The Federal Government has described as illegal industrial actions by aviation unions leading to flight disruptions.
The FG has also said it will not allow further actions by labour unions in aviation grounding activities at the airport.
The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, said this on Wednesday at the State House in Abuja while fielding questions after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
The minister, said such action is now illegal going by the provisions of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Act.
Sirika said, “This is very important to the traveling public. First, we apologise to them, our teeming passengers in this difficult moment. Secondly, this will not happen in the future by the grace of God. And the reason is simple, aviation is an essential service, the Act has been assented to by Mr. President, so strikes and riots around our airports are prohibited by the laws of the land” he said.
“And now that we have the act in place and assented by Mr President and passed by the National Assembly. So, we will deal with it according to the law. We will ensure no essential service is being disrupted by anybody no matter how aggrieved. There are other channels of channeling issues when they arise but they are not permitted to go on strike because aviation is an essential service and is by the law of the land now” he noted.
“I will give you an example, there was an airline that had to return to base because it couldn’t land. Imagine if there was a patient on that aircraft? Imagine somebody attending to a very serious issue or matter at hand or business or a student trying to catch with a exam and then because of somebody who is aggrieved, some other persons will die.Government will no longer allow that. So it’s in the law of the land, check the FAAN Act, it’s been assented to and it’s going to take place soon, in fact now, from today, we will not allow that” he emphasized.
“Our ears are always open, government is open to listen to any grievances and there are procedures for dealing with this kind of grievances. They should please desist from this, it is wrong, it is inhuman, it is not allowed, it is not permitted and we will not be permitting any longer” he said..
