Whole-body scanningNigeria ordering Rapiscan backscatter imaging systems for the country's international airports
The government of Nigeria is deploying Rapiscan’s Secure 1000 Single Pose backscatter whole-body scanners at the country’s four international airports; the systems will be used to screen passengers traveling to the United States as well other countries
Rapiscan Systems has received a contract award from the government of Nigeria for multiple Rapiscan Secure 1000 Single Pose Advanced Imaging Technology body scanners. The award follows the recent announcement by the Nigerian Federal Executive Council to deploy the Advanced Imaging Technology systems in wake of the recent terrorist incident on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on 25 December 2009. The systems are expected to be installed in all four of the country’s international airports and to be used to screen passengers traveling to the United States as well other countries.
OSI Systems (Rapiscan’s parent company) chairman and CEO, Deepak Chopra, stated: “We are pleased to be working closely with the Government of Nigeria to deploy the Rapiscan Secure 1000 Single Pose. We think that the Secure 1000 Single Pose is ideal for rapidly growing aviation markets such as Nigeria’s. It is easy to operate and service. Its backscatter technology provides significant detection benefits, while at the same time it offers the best passenger throughput of any available screening system.”
The Secure 1000 Single Pose has been approved by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and is currently being deployed at airports in the and the United Kingdom. The Secure 1000 Single Pose uses advanced backscatter technology and proprietary image processing software to detect potential threats on passengers at aviation checkpoints.
The company says that the backscatter imaging technology and proprietary image processing software offer advantages over alternatives such as metal detectors and hand searches, because they can help screeners detect non-metallic threats and explosives, as well as metal objects. In addition, the system, which complies with all U.S. government passenger privacy and safety requirements, is configured to improve overall checkpoint efficiency: to complete the scan, a passenger faces the Secure 1000 Single Pose while front and back scans are generated and within seconds, a computer-aided image is presented for inspection, thereby streamlining the screening process.
