The Nigeria Police have taken five vehicles belonging to Air Peace into custody as investigations continue into the recent disruption of flight operations at the Lagos airport.
The vehicles, identified with registration numbers AJJ 589EX, KTU 440EZ, AAA 831F, KTU 85FH and EPE 656HF, were reportedly found on the airport’s airside in a position capable of obstructing aircraft movement.
According to The Punch, the development came after an earlier report that three Air Peace buses had been towed to the police station by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria following the runway incident.
Although the police initially confirmed the seizure of three vehicles, further findings established that two additional Air Peace vehicles had also been impounded.
The spokesperson for the Airport Command of the Nigeria Police, Muhammed Adeola, confirmed that all five vehicles were currently in police custody.
According to him, the police had engaged Air Peace and requested the airline to produce the drivers who took the vehicles into the restricted area.
Adeola said the airline claimed that impostors could have been behind the incident and promised to carry out an internal investigation to determine who operated the vehicles.
As of the time of filing the report, the airline had yet to submit the outcome of its investigation to the police.
Adeola said the vehicles would remain in police custody until Air Peace identifies and produces the drivers involved.
He said, “Yes, you are correct, there are five in our compound. When we started our investigation, we met with Air Peace and expected them to provide us with the drivers. But they told us that they believed some saboteurs must have driven their vehicles and all of that.
“They then promised to conduct an internal investigation and provide us with whoever they found to have driven the buses. Until then, the vehicles will be in our possession, since we must know those who attempted to disrupt the smooth running of airport operations.”
The runway blockade occurred during an industrial dispute between aviation unions and Air Peace over the airline’s alleged failure to remit the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority as required by law.
The industrial action disrupted Air Peace flights from Lagos and Abuja, forcing passengers to seek alternative means of transportation.
The unions had accused Air Peace of being among the airlines with significant outstanding payments to the NCAA and had earlier issued several warnings over non-remittance of the statutory charge.
They also alleged that some domestic airlines restricted employees from freely joining trade unions, claiming workers feared discrimination or victimisation.
The unions maintained that the industrial action was a last resort after giving the affected airlines several weeks to address the outstanding issues.
Efforts to obtain Air Peace’s response were unsuccessful, as its spokesman, Efe Osifo-Whiskey, did not respond to inquiries.
