Passengers were left stranded in Abuja and Lagos on Tuesday as aviation unions shut down operations of Air Peace over allegations that the airline was frustrating workers’ unionisation and withholding ticket sales charges owed to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
This was as an Air Peace driver may also face prosecution after allegedly driving a large bus onto the airside during a picketing exercise by aviation unions that grounded about 70 flights on Tuesday.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority confirmed the incident and said the driver could face prosecution over the action, which allegedly obstructed movement within the airside and forced the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria to tow the vehicle away.
NCAA Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, said the authority had ordered that the driver be identified and arrested.
The NCAA publicist said, “During the enforcement of the picketing, a driver drove the large bus to the runway, parked and left the place. We have ordered that the driver in question be identified and arrested for onward prosecution. How can somebody block the runway? That is seriously uncalled for. We will investigate, and the necessary portions of the Act will be invoked.”
When asked why the driver had blocked the runway, Air Peace spokesman, Efe Whiskey-Osifo, dismissed the allegation, saying the bus never blocked the runway.
The incident occurred as the National Union of Air Transport Employees, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, backed by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, commenced picketing of Air Peace over alleged non-remittance of the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge and claims that the airline was frustrating workers’ attempts to unionise.
