Aviation workers said yesterday there was no going back on shutting down the Kaduna International Airport in compliance with the directive of the NLC.
The workers comprising the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) had earlier issued a joint notice to join the one-week strike.
In a letter dated 14th May 2021 to the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the aviation unions informed that they would proceed on the action in compliance with the NLC directive with effect from midnight of Sunday, the 16th of May, 2021 to midnight of Friday the 21st of May.
Speaking with journalists yesterday, General Secretary of NUATE, Ochem Aba, said the Kaduna Airport would be shut down by 7 p.m.
“We are currently at Mando and from there we would go in convoy to shut down the gate of the airport. There is no going back. All the authorities have been duly informed,” he said in a telephone chat with our correspondent.
It was revealed that Air Peace is currently the only airline that flies to Kaduna. It was learnt that the airline has been duly informed about the industrial action. As of the time of filing this report, the airline had closed booking on its website for Kaduna flight.
Apart from the scheduled commercial flight, other private charter operations in and out of Kaduna state would be affected.
A labour leader and former General Secretary of NUATE, Olayinka Abioye, said the action by the NLC “is long overdue.”
“It is good that the labour movement is converging on Kaduna to deal with him. How can a governor wake up to say you are sacking people to say you are doing review? I am fully in support of the action of the labour movement. It is long overdue,” he added.
