NCAA Orders Arrest, Prosecution Of Air Peace Driver Over Alleged Runway Blockade

A staff member of Air Peace may face prosecution after allegedly driving a bus onto the airside of the Lagos airport and leaving it there during the picketing of the airline by aviation unions on Tuesday.
The incident disrupted movement within the airport environment before the vehicle was towed away by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), backed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), commenced the picketing of Air Peace operations in the early hours of Tuesday, LEADERSHIP recalls.

A source at the airport, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the driver of the bus drove into the airside and abandoned the vehicle there in protest during the picketing exercise.

The source added that FAAN had to tow the vehicle away from the area to restore movement and ensure normal activities within the airside.

Confirming the development, the spokesperson of the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, said the authority had ordered that the driver be identified and arrested for possible prosecution.

Achimugu said, “Yes, I’ve been busy with some other things in the early part of today. I was meeting the airlines at a meeting we had earlier scheduled, but from what I was able to gather from the other agency was that, 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’ll investigate, and the necessary portions of the act will be invoked.”

However, Air Peace spokesperson, Efe Whiskey-Osifo, dismissed the allegation, insisting that the vehicle did not block the runway.

“Show me your pictures. Do you know the runway better than I do? The bus did not block the runway. Do you know what a runway is?” she queried.

The picketing action affected Air Peace operations at major airports, including the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, as unions enforced their demands over the Ticket Sales Charge and alleged restrictions on workers’ unionisation rights.

The airline later announced that it had resumed flight operations despite the disruption, while maintaining that the unions’ action was targeted at the carrier because its employees had declined to join the unions.