The Nigerian government Monday criticised as "unfair" and discriminatory plans by the US to step up security measures on air passengers from over a dozen countries, including Nigeria, according to dpa. "It is unfair to discriminate against 150 million people because of the behaviour of one person," Information Minister Dora Akunyili said, referring to 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who attempted to set off an explosive device on a US passenger plane over Detroit on Christmas Day. "Abdulmutallab"s behaviour is not reflective of Nigeria and should therefore not be used as a yardstick to judge all Nigerians," she added. The minister"s remarks came as the US began introducing tougher security measures on passengers arriving from or travelling through nations on a government list of state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest. Among other measures, the passengers were to be subject to mandatory enhanced security screenings, such as pat downs and more thorough luggage screening, the Transportation Safety Administration announced Sunday.
