Strike: Passengers Stranded As Labour Officials Ground Flight Operations At Lagos Airport

All access to the airport terminal has been barricaded by labour officials, leaving passengers stranded.

Okenyi, who said he has been at the airport since 6:00 am, expressed frustration over the situation.

“I was supposed to report to work today. I was supposed to go to Uyo and then to Eket. As you can see, I’m stuck here.

“I left my house at about 4:30 am and got here around 6:00am. Because of heavy traffic, I had to jump down from the bike that was carrying me. I’ve been here since then and nobody is even talking to us.

“I was expecting that Ibom Air would address us on whether they’ve rescheduled the flight, so that we will know what next to do, instead of letting us sit under the sun,” he said.

Okenyi appealed to thw airline to inform the passengers of the next line of action so they would know what to do.

“What these guys are doing is commendable, because things have to change, and this change,” he asserted.

Another passenger, Dr. Onyeka Polinus, said: “I’m a Nigerian, we’re used to this. We’re no longer bothered by anything. You wake up in Nigeria everyday, expecting a very big surprise, and this is one of them.”.

He appealed to the government to show deeper concern about the welfare of the Nigerian workers by seeing things from the angle of organised labour.

Also, a passenger who identified himself as Samson, lamented that the disruptions in flight operations have affected his travel plans.

Samson who is supposed to travel to Abuja, asked the government to do something to end the strike.

The organised labour on Friday declared an indefinite nationwide strike, which began today, over the Federal Government’s refusal to raise the proposed minimum wage from N60,000.

The organised labour is demanding N494,000 living wage. However, the Federal Government has refused to shift on the proposed N60,000, which reflects a 100 percent raise when compared with the current N30,000 National Minimum Wage.