BEVERLY HILLS, January 06, (THEWILL) – Stranded passengers of Arik Air on Wednesday staged a protest at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, raining verbal abuses and physically assaulting staff of the airline. This was after scarcity of aviation fuel forced the company to suspend its domestic and international flights from the airport.
Trouble started at the international terminal of the Lagos airport when the flight of those billed to travel to Johannesburg and New York were delayed for about 10 hours without any boarding announcement being made regarding their take-off.
Sensing a breakdown of the peace, policemen from the airport command were deployed to prevent the angry passengers from damaging facilities at the international airport.
The airline later explained that it had difficulty sourcing fuel for the flights, even as it condemned the incessant attacks on its staff and property by passengers in recent weeks.
A statement by its spokesman, Adebanji Ola stated that; “Arik Air strongly condemns the incessant and increasing number of attacks on our staff and property in the recent months.
“As a flag carrier for Nigeria, the airline expresses it disappointment and dismay that the Aviation Security department (AVSEC) of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and all the other security agencies in the country cannot ensure or guarantee the safety of our personnel when on duty across the various airports in the country.
“This serious breach of security and lawlessness by some of the passengers to assault and cause bodily harm to the airline’s personnel cannot and will not continue to be tolerated.
“Passengers continue to take the laws into their hands and the severity and frequencies of such criminal acts are on the rise due to lack of appropriate action or preventative measures from the security agencies,” Arik Air added.
