“It Is A Crime To Do That And Whoever Does That Should Be Arrested,” Says NCAA DG, Achimugu, On Bus Parked On Lagos Airport Airside

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has said it will investigate the parking of a bus on the airside of an airport during Tuesday’s industrial action by aviation unions, describing the act as a crime and warning that no one found responsible will be spared.
The airside is the restricted operational area of an airport where aircraft operate.
Speaking to newsmen on Tuesday, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, said parking the vehicle on the airside constituted an offence and that whoever was responsible should be arrested.
“It is a crime to do that and whoever does that should be arrested. We will investigate and whoever it is, there will be no sacred cow,” he said.
A picture circulating on social media shows an Air Peace bus parked on the airside, while a separate video shows it being towed away. According to reports, the driver drove into the airside and parked there while the picketing was ongoing, and the vehicle had to be towed away by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria to allow the free movement of aircraft and other airport operations.
The spokesperson for Air Peace, Osifo-Whiskey Efe, told newsmen he could not immediately comment. “I can’t answer you on this at the moment. I will have to get back to you on this,” he said. He clarified, however, that the vehicle was not parked on the runway but on the airside.
Efforts to reach FAAN for further details on the incident were unsuccessful.
The incident occurred during an industrial action that disrupted flight operations across parts of the country on Tuesday, after aviation unions barricaded access to terminals in Lagos and Abuja.
The action involved members of the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the Trade Union Congress, who picketed Air Peace outlets over alleged non-remittance of the ticket sale charge and violations of workers’ unionisation rights.
The disruption affected access to terminals at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, leaving passengers stranded at both airports.
Air Peace, Nigeria’s largest airline by fleet size, said the action prevented passengers and flight crews from reaching its departure terminals.
“The ongoing industrial action has resulted in the barricading of the entrances to our departure terminals at Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 1 (Alpha and Zulu Terminals) and Terminal 2 in Lagos, as well as the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Terminal in Abuja,” the airline said.
The blockade prevented scheduled flights from departing both cities, with a Lagos flight scheduled for 6:30am among those affected, and created knock-on disruptions across the airline’s domestic network. Air Peace apologised to passengers and said it was contacting travellers whose flights were scheduled for later in the day.
Enugu Air was also affected and rescheduled some services. “Please be informed that due to an ongoing industrial action at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, where union workers are denying staff access into the airport terminal, operations at the airport have been temporarily suspended,” the airline said, advising passengers to monitor their emails, text messages and official channels and to contact customer service for rebooking.
As the disruption spread, the NCAA appealed to the unions to suspend the action pending the return and intervention of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo.
The Director-General of Civil Aviation, Chris Ona Najomo, said the regulator recognised the hardship the action was causing passengers and stakeholders, and urged the parties to return to dialogue.
The authority said the Minister had been working to resolve the dispute and had convened a meeting the previous week which could not proceed. “The matter would have been addressed at the meeting convened by the Honourable Minister last week, but the meeting could not hold as the airline operators failed to honour the invitation,” the NCAA said.
Notwithstanding the disruption, the regulator assured passengers that its statutory oversight responsibilities remained fully in force. “Flight safety remains uncompromised,” it stated.
FAAN said it was monitoring developments and working with relevant agencies, airlines and security agencies to limit the effect of the action on airport operations.
“In the interim, FAAN is working closely with the relevant aviation agencies, airlines, security agencies and other stakeholders to minimise the impact of the industrial action and ensure that airport operations are not disrupted,” the authority said.
It added: “The authority also confirms that earlier operational challenges affecting the movement of some flights within the airside environment have been addressed through ongoing inter-agency coordination, and measures are being sustained to support the orderly continuation of flight operations.”
The authority acknowledged the legitimate role of organised labour while backing efforts by the Minister and other stakeholders to resolve the dispute amicably, and reiterated its commitment to keeping Nigeria’s airports safe, secure, functional and accessible. It advised passengers to maintain contact with their airlines for real-time information on flight schedules.
The industrial action is linked to a long-running dispute between the aviation unions and Air Peace over the airline’s relationship with organised labour, particularly the recognition and unionisation of its workers.
A source familiar with operations at the Abuja airport said the disagreement had persisted despite previous engagements between the airline and the unions, stressing that the dispute centred principally on labour relations rather than on aviation safety. The source added that although the situation in Abuja was not identical to that in Lagos, disruption at the Lagos hub had affected aircraft and crew positioning, creating delays across other parts of the network.
With Lagos and Abuja serving as the principal hubs for domestic aviation, disruption at either airport spreads quickly to other routes as aircraft, crew and passenger connections fall out of sequence.
Both the NCAA and FAAN have urged the parties to return to dialogue and to avoid allowing a labour dispute involving a single airline to develop into a wider disruption of the country’s air transport system. Passengers have been advised to confirm the status of their flights before travelling to the airport, as schedules remain subject to change.
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