The striking aviation unions on Tuesday gave a seven-day ultimatum to totally shut down the airport, with a procession to the international wing of the Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA).
As security personnel took control of the protest site where the unions assembled on Monday, the unions blocked access routes on the first day of their two-day warning strike.
The National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Employees (NAAPE), the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) are the unions demanding the implementation of the terms of service, stopping the demolition of the offices of aviation agencies in Lagos, and paying relocation allowances among other things on behalf of their members.
The activities of the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), were paralysed as their offices were locked during the two-day warning strike.
Comrade Abdulrasaq Saidu, General Secretary of ANAP, who spoke at the MMIA assured that after seven days, they would go to a total shutdown, saying that they would try to cut Nigeria away from other countries.
He added, “For eight years, conditions of service were not implemented. Sirika usurped the functions of the governing boards, there is no check and balance.”
He explained that they wanted to coerce them to come to Abuja, but they refused to go to the meeting, saying that no conclusions and no genuine meeting with the government was made.
On Monday, the Federal Ministry of Aviation had urged the workers to embrace dialogue rather than industrial action.