Air Peace has urged the Federal Government and aviation security authorities to investigate the violence and disruption that accompanied an industrial action at Nigerian airports on Monday, August 11, saying the incident left the airline with more than ₦2 billion in losses and thousands of passengers stranded.
Chief Operating Officer Oluwatoyin Olajide made the call on Tuesday during a media briefing in Lagos. She said aviation unions had cited two main grievances for the picketing: airlines’ alleged indebtedness on the 5 per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) owed to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), and the failure of carriers to unionise their staff.
Olajide questioned why Air Peace was singled out for what she described as violent action when the TSC issue affects the entire industry. She noted that the NCAA Director-General had publicly stated that airlines generally, and not Air Peace alone, are complying with the authority’s payment directives.
On unionisation, she said more than 98 per cent of Nigerian airlines operate without unions and that Air Peace employees had voluntarily chosen not to join any. “The staff of Air Peace have made it abundantly clear that they do not wish to form any union within Air Peace. This is within their constitutional rights. Air Peace did not stop them,” she said.
She also criticised union members who, according to video footage, urged passengers to avoid Air Peace and fly other carriers instead, carriers that, she argued, face the same TSC obligations and are equally non-unionised.
Olajide alleged that some Air Peace staff were assaulted while exercising their right not to join a union, including a female employee who was left bleeding and bruised. She asked how workers’ rights could be defended by attacking other workers exercising their own constitutional rights.
The airline further raised concerns about airport security, questioning how protesters gained access to controlled areas of what it called sensitive national assets. The disruption, it said, has unsettled international partners and aircraft lessors about the reliability of Nigeria’s aviation business environment.
Air Peace maintains that the action violated a Federal High Court judgment delivered on April 26, 2024. The ruling declared it unlawful for the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, National Union of Air Transport Employees and others to coerce Air Peace staff into union membership against their will. The court also issued a perpetual injunction restraining the unions from harassing employees or instigating breaches of the peace, and directed the police to enforce compliance nationwide.
The carrier described Monday’s events as an “act of unlawful interference” under International Civil Aviation Organisation and Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations security provisions, which attract penalties. It warned that individuals involved could face further consequences, including travel restrictions.
Olajide stressed that the airline is not opposed to organised labour. “This is not about being anti-union. It is about constitutional rights, freedom of choice, employee safety, passenger welfare and the rule of law,” she said. Air Peace has offered video evidence and other materials to assist investigators.
The airline called for a thorough, independent probe by the Federal Government, security agencies, airport authorities and aviation regulators, insisting that Nigeria’s aviation sector cannot afford to allow such an incident to become a precedent.
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