The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has ordered the arrest and prosecution of an Air Peace driver accused of driving a bus onto the airside and leaving it there during Tuesday’s industrial action by aviation unions at the Lagos airport.
The unions, including the National Union of Air Transport Employees, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, picketed Air Peace over alleged non-remittance of the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge payable to aviation agencies.
The unions, backed by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, also accused some domestic airlines of restricting workers from joining trade unions.
A source at the airport said the driver allegedly drove the bus into the airside during the protest and abandoned it there.
The source said the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria subsequently towed the vehicle away to clear the area and restore movement within the airside.
Confirming the incident, NCAA spokesperson, Michael Achimugu, said the authority had directed that the driver be identified and arrested.
Achimugu said, “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.”
He added that the authority would investigate the incident and invoke the relevant provisions of the law.
However, Air Peace spokesperson, Efe Whiskey-Osifo, rejected the allegation that the vehicle blocked the runway.
She challenged the description of the location, saying, “The bus did not block the runway. Do you know what a runway is?”
The industrial action followed weeks of warnings by the aviation unions over the alleged failure of some airlines to remit the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge and concerns over alleged anti-union practices.
The unions had said the picketing was carried out after affected airlines were given several weeks to address their grievances.
