The National Civil Aviation Authority has ordered the arrest and prosecution of an Air Peace driver following an incident involving the airline’s bus during Tuesday’s picketing by aviation workers in Lagos.
The driver was accused of driving an Air Peace bus onto the airport airside and leaving it there amid the industrial action by aviation unions protesting against alleged anti-union practices and the non-remittance of statutory charges by some airlines.
The unions involved in the action are the National Union of Air Transport Employees, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, with the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress backing the protest.
The unions had previously issued warnings to airlines over the alleged failure to remit the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge meant to support aviation agencies.
They also accused some airlines of preventing workers from freely joining trade unions, alleging that employees feared discrimination or victimisation.
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A source at the Lagos airport said the Air Peace driver allegedly drove the bus into the airside during the picketing and parked it there in protest.
The source said the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria later towed the vehicle away to allow movement within the airside.
Confirming the incident, NCAA spokesperson Michael Achimugu said the authority had ordered that the driver be identified and arrested for prosecution.
According to him, leaving a vehicle in an area used for aircraft operations was a serious violation that required investigation and appropriate action.
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.
“We’ll investigate, and the necessary portions of the Act will be invoked.”
However, Air Peace disputed the NCAA’s account, insisting that its vehicle did not block the runway.
The airline’s spokesperson, Efe Whiskey-Osifo, challenged the description of the incident and asked for evidence to support the claim.
“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 incident comes amid a wider confrontation between Air Peace and aviation unions, whose Tuesday picketing disrupted the airline’s operations at major airports and left passengers stranded.
The unions said the action followed several weeks of attempts to resolve their grievances, while the NCAA has now moved to investigate the circumstances surrounding the Air Peace bus and determine whether any aviation regulations were breached.
