MPs Face Danger As Security Scanners Break Down In Parliament

The rigorous security checks one is subjected when he or she enters parliament house have vanished into thin air, making the legislator highly susceptible to attacks by people with ulterior motives.

Security scanners at the various entry points, apart from that of Job 600, have all broken down, with no hope of being repaired or replaced sooner or later.

At the main entry point to the reception leading to the Chamber or the floor of Parliament, the Rapiscan machine has broken down.

Security operatives detailed at that entry points always find it difficult to scan the bags and or luggage of visitors to the legislature.

They now depend on SuperWand Hand-Held Metal detectors, which are not sufficient enough to detect any hidden object that may be used to cause damage to the House.

The story is not different from the staff entrance and that of the speaker’s block.

Scanners at the entry points of the new block have also broken down, making the work of security details at those points very difficult. At times, they have to manually subject people to body checks, and this measure has often times resulted in unpleasant scenarios, where they refused and subject the security personnel to all manner of insults.

For some months now, no one seems to care about the scanners that have broken down.

The Chronicle can authoritatively report that eh legislature is no more safe to accommodate the Speaker, law makers, staff and ancillary workers, as well as the public that come around to witness proceedings, especially, in this era where the world is grappling with security threats from the Islamic States of Iraq and the Levante (ISIL) and their sister organization Islamic States of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Checks by The Chronicle revealed that the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho, has made several appeals to the Ministry of Finance to provide funding to repair the broken down scanners or replace them, but such appeals have fallen on deaf ears.

The Marshall of parliament, who we are told served notice to the Speaker about the faulty scanners, is equally not enthused about the development.

Inside sources say the Marshall, sometimes, had to join his boys at the entry points to conduct body and other security checks manually to ensure that the House was safe to accommodate the legislators.

Maintenance culture of the facilities, we are told, is very poor in the institution that houses the law makers.

The elevator at the new block that has been providing services to the physically challenged and elderly is currently not functioning.