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- Hajj operations ongoing at Sokoto airport -FAAN
By Chinelo Obogo
Passengers were left stranded at Abuja and Lagos airports in the early hours of Monday morning following the industrial action declared by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) over the Federal Government’s refusal to raise the proposed minimum wage from N60,000.
The Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals, (ANAP), 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) had on Sunday directed their members to join the strike after the meeting the leadership of the NLC and NUC had with the National Assembly to reach a resolution ended in a deadlock.
The aviation unions whose membership cut across agencies like the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), complied with the directive in the early hours of Monday morning as flight operations at some airports across the country came to a halt.
A domestic airline official told Daily Sun that he arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, as early as 6.a.m on Monday to get the first flight.
“I got to the airport at 6.a.m, checked in, got to the departure lounge and it was scanty with very few people. Air Peace was making their first boarding call. They were midway into the call when they were stopped and the departure gate was locked and no one could leave. At about 7.00a.m, Air Peace cancelled their flights and the labour unions came and began shutting off the air conditioners in the departure lounge and everyone left.
“Around 7.15a.m, I left the departure lounge and came outside the terminal building and saw a huge crowd. All the check-in counters of the airlines were shut down, no one was selling tickets and no one was checking in.
“When I made enquires, I was told that the unions told all the airline staff to leave the terminal building.
“As I speak, everyone is standing outside the terminal building and no one is being allowed to enter. People are standing outside and hoping that there would be a reprieve,” the airline official said.
The situation was the same at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos. As early as 6.30a.m, the aviation unions had locked the gates leading to the airport building leaving passengers outside.
However the Managing Director of Aero Contractors, Ado Sanusi, said airlines have not suspended operations but that the activities of the unions will cause flights delays and cancellations.
At the Sultan Abubakar III International Airport, Sokoto, the airport manager, Dnajuma Ahmed, told Daily Sun that the airport is one and hajj operations are ongoing. “Everything is going on fine here. As I speak, hajj operations are ongoing and nothing has been disrupted. You know that we usually don’t get morning flights, most of our flights are in the afternoon, so it is our hope that by then, the issues would have been resolved,” he said.
