The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has ordered the identification and arrest of a driver alleged to have left an Air Peace bus on the airside of the Lagos airport during Tuesday’s industrial action by aviation workers.
The NCAA said the driver would be prosecuted if investigations establish that he deliberately obstructed the runway, describing such an action as a serious breach of aviation safety regulations.
The incident occurred amid a picketing exercise carried out by aviation unions against Air Peace and other airlines over a number of unresolved labour and regulatory grievances.
The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), backed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), commenced the picketing in the early hours of Tuesday.
The unions had previously issued three stages of warning over plans to picket airlines they accused of failing to remit the statutory five per cent Ticket Sales Charge to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority.
The labour bodies also accused some domestic airlines of making it difficult for their employees to freely join trade unions, alleging that workers who express interest in union membership face fears of discrimination or victimisation.
The unions maintained that Tuesday’s action was not taken without warning, saying the affected airlines had been given several weeks to address their grievances.
At the centre of the dispute is also the alleged non-remittance of the five per cent ticket sales charge, which is intended to provide funding for aviation agencies.
Amid the picketing, an incident involving an Air Peace bus drew the attention of aviation authorities.
An airport source, who requested anonymity, told our correspondent that the driver allegedly drove the bus onto the airside and left it there during the protest.
According to the source, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria subsequently had to tow the vehicle away to restore unobstructed movement within the airside area.
The allegation prompted a response from the NCAA, with its spokesperson, Michael Achimugu, confirming that the authority had been briefed about the incident.
Achimugu said the NCAA had directed that the driver be identified and arrested for prosecution if found culpable.
He 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.”
Expressing concern over the alleged obstruction, the NCAA spokesman stressed the seriousness of leaving a vehicle on a runway or other sensitive operational area of an airport.
He added: “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.”
Air Peace, however, has rejected the allegation that its vehicle blocked the runway.
The airline’s spokesperson, Efe Whiskey-Osifo, challenged the description of the incident and questioned whether the vehicle was actually positioned on the runway as alleged.
Responding to the allegation, she said, “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?”
The conflicting accounts have now raised questions over the exact location of the vehicle and whether its presence constituted an obstruction of an operational runway or merely an incident within another section of the airport’s airside.
The NCAA’s position means the matter could now move beyond the industrial dispute and into a formal investigation, with the authority expected to determine whether any aviation regulations were breached.
The development adds another layer to the ongoing confrontation between aviation unions and airlines, with the labour bodies insisting that their demands must be addressed while regulators remain concerned about maintaining safety and order within the nation’s airports.
As the authorities investigate the circumstances surrounding the bus incident, the central dispute over unionisation, the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge and other grievances remains unresolved.
(Ripples)