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By Chinelo Obogo, Lagos
Airlines were on Monday forced to reschedule several flights as a result of the ongoing protest by students at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport.
Members of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) protested the failure of the federal government to meet the demands of Academic Staff of Universities Union (ASUU).
The protesters arrived at NAHCO junction which is enroute the Murtala Muhammed International Airport expressway around 7am and condoned off the road leading to the international terminal and the Murtala Muhammed tollgate with their vehicles, singing solidarity songs.
A team of security operatives led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police Airport Command, DCP Sunday Kayode and Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Commandant, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, were at the airport road to ensure the protest remained peaceful.
One of the student leaders, Afeez Babateye, assured the security officers that the protest would remain peaceful as long as they are not molested by security operatives.
However, many passengers whose vehicles were denied assess to the Lagos airport terminals, were seeing trecking to the terminal carrying their pieces of luggage on their heads while some dragged them on.
Related: HAPPENING NOW! Passengers stranded as students block Airport road Lagos
An official of Air Peace told Daily Sun that many of their flights had to be rescheduled because many of their passengers and even some of their crew were stuck in the airport road traffic for hours and were forced to trek to get to the airport.
“Many of our passengers were stuck in the traffic and couldn’t access the airport. We were forced to reschedule some of our flights not only because of that but because some of our crew members were also stuck,” the official said.
The Head, Corporate Communications for United Nigeria Airlines, Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu, told Daily Sun that their operations were not affected by the traffic, while the spokesperson of Arik Air, Ola Banji, told Daily Sun that the airline had to reschedule some of its flights to accommodate passengers that were stuck.
The spokesperson for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Faithful Hope-Ivbaze, told newsmen that the protest was a peaceful one but that security was beefed up around the airport
“Our security operatives are at the airport. Security is beefed up. It is a peaceful demonstration; they are just on the road; they are not at the airport,” she said.
