Hadi Sirika, the aviation minister, made this announcement on Wednesday at a press conference held at the State House in Abuja following the Federal Executive Council, which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to Sirika, who thinks the Senate is just an advisory body that cannot bring up issues with the government, there is a reason why the matter is getting out of hand.

The National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, the Union of Air Transport Employees, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, and the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals have all threatened a warning strike, and Senator Biodun Olujimi, the chair of the senate committee on aviation, has just hours ago brought this to the attention of the upper legislative chamber.

“Just the other day, some houses were demolished by the Lagos government in our camp. We have been on that issue for some time, we went up to Supreme Court and won and they had to give way for development. This is in the national interest,” Sirika said.

“There’s no individual that can drag it out with the government. If I want to pull down this hall and build a better one, who is going to stop me as a government?

“So I think it is not an issue, they are just overheating it and you know why.  But we have a responsibility and mandate, and we are not shy, we are very bold to do all those things that are good for our people. We are also a very responsive and responsible government, where it will affect the lives of the people, of course, we are going to do it.

“We have been known to do things that better civilization everywhere we go. So, this one also is going to make life very good.”

The Aviation Minister further maintained that those who are contesting the demolition should not deny millions of Nigerians the gratification of witnessing a revolutionized Lagos airport as tenable in other countries.

They blocked the Murtala Muhammed Access Plaza with placards.

Some of the protesters marched from Computer Village via Along Bus Stop to the airport, The Nation reports.

They obstructed traffic and delayed vehicles from accessing the airport through the plaza.

It was gathered the protest began at 10 am.

They blocked motorists trying to access the local airport by setting up their stand at the Murtala Mohammed Airport Access Plaza, thereby causing gridlock at the roundabout.

Many intended travellers had to find alternative means of transportation.

Singing songs of solidarity, they carried placards with inscriptions such as “iPhone no be gun”, “SARSMUSTEND”, “Chibuike Amana deserves justice”.

Several motorists, who expressed their frustration at the gridlock, said they have been stuck in the traffic for close to two hours.

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission via its official handle on Twitter announced the arrival of the evacuees on Wednesday afternoon.

NIDCOM reported that the returnees all tested negative for COVID-19 and would be made to undergo 14 days self-isolation as suggested by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, after which they would be re-tested for the virus.

The tweet reads:  “246 Evacuees arrive Murtala Muhammed Int’l Airport, Lagos at exactly 3:30 pm local time via @emirates from UAE today, Wednesday 8th of July, 2020.

“A big thank you to the Nigerian Mission in Dubai and the UAE government for paying for the flight. Tickets and the cost of COVIDー19 test for 131 evacuees.