Dr Harold Demuren, the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), on Sunday said that the compromising of Nigerian aviation workers portended grave threat to the sector.

"It is high time we raise alarm on the consequences of insider threat to our aviation security," he told newsmen at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

He said that the security of the nation's airports would not improve if it experienced much "insider" threats, adding that such a trend "will be quite unfortunate."

Demuren urged the Federal Government to be diligent with the way it scrutinised security personnel that were protecting the country's airports.

"Aviation security remains the greatest challenge to safety of airport users and has assumed a source of worry to world aviation experts lately.

"Nations now work toward their aviation security personnel to be more vigilant because saboteurs, criminals and terrorists are evolving new ways to outwit them," he said.

The NCAA boss expressed delight that the African Union (AU) has approved the 2012 Abuja Declaration which made it mandatory for every African country to be IATA Operational safety Audit (IOSA) compliant by 2015.

He noted that being IOSA compliant was good for the continent, adding that it would enhance safety of the African airspace.

"We, here, will keep improving on safety of our aviation sector since we recognise that it is the engine of our economy."