Nigeria’s Aviation Unions Want NSA To Conclude Investigation MMIA Taxiway Blockage Incident
Aviation unions in Nigeria under the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical And Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), National Association of Aircraft Piolts And Engineers (NAAPE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) have jointly called on the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) to conclude and make public, its investigation into the taxiway blockage incident at Murtala Muhmmed Airport, Lagos on August 11, 2026.
A statement jointly signed by Comrade Igene PJA, General Secretary NUATE, Comrade Aliu Mohammed, General Secretary AUPCTRE, Comrade Frances Akinjole General Secretary ATSSSAN, Comrade Umoh Ofonime Deputy General Secretary NAAPE and Comrade Ocheme Aba Deputy Secretary General ANAP equally demanded that security matters should not be swept under the carpet and that “no airline should be above the law. No operator should be treated as untouchable. The law must apply equally to all. The Federal Government should NOT abrogate the TSC. Any review of aviation charges must be done transparently through the proper statutory channels, with full participation of the Unions, the agencies, and all stakeholders – not as a backdoor reward for non-remittance.
All airlines that have collected TSC from passengers but failed to remit it must be made to remit it immediately, with appropriate sanctions as provided by law. Passengers have already paid this money.
The rights of workers to unionize in all airlines, as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Labour Act, International laws and Conventions and International Best Practices must be respected and enforced.”
In a press conference held today at NUATE, FAAN Branch Secretariat, MMA, the unions called on “the President, the National Assembly, the NSA, the Minister of Aviation, and all well-meaning Nigerians to intervene before it is too late. We will continue to pursue this matter through all lawful means – engagement, petition, and if necessary, industrial action – until safety, security and statutory funding in aviation are guaranteed.”
The statement titled Playing Game With National Security In The Aviation Sector further recalls “that on 11thAugust, 2026 unions in the aviation sector carried out a peaceful Industrial action against Air Peace on the grounds of the Airline’s refusal to allow its workers to join trade unions as well as it’s prolonged failure to remit to aviation agencies, monies collected from air travelers on their behalf known by law as Ticket Sales Charge (TSC)and Cargo Sales Charge (CSC).
The refusal to allow its workers to belong to trade unions offends… And the failure to remit the TSC and CSC had made it impossible for the agencies to pay the remunerations of their workers and attend to safety critical issues in the agencies.
The Industrial action against Air peace was the beginning of a planned series of actions against members of the Airline operators of Nigeria (AON) who were affected by the two stated offences. However, the intervention of the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development led to calling off of the action against Air peace and the discontinuation of the action against other airlines as planned.
As you will recall also, the Air peace, in protesting the action by the unions, orchestrated a blockage of aircraft manoeuvring area and taxiway of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos by five of its branded buses in a brazen commando-like manner. This subjected a number of moving aircraft to severe safety concerns and was a brazen sacrilege against aviation safety regulations and as well put national security at grave risk.
When, however, the AON went to town with a crooked narrative of the events of that faithful day and blamed our unions for transgression against airports unlawful interference rule as well as lambasting the aviation regulatory bodies for not preventing the unions for carrying out the industrial action, we were swift in our response to correct all the wrong narratives by AON.”
“Air Peace reported the unions to the Inspector General of Police and simultaneously took legal action against the unions by instituting a case at the National Industrial Court, This is in addition to the investigation being carried out by the Airports Command of the Nigeria Police Force as well as regulatory investigation by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). Our unions are being interrogated by all these institutions, all at the same time.
So, the unions are presently cooperating ingeniously with the Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police, Airports Command, the Director General of NCAA and the National Industrial Court all in the bumble belief that, in spite of the mischief behind these antics, the activities could produce a positive outcome that will strengthen compliance with aviation safety, national security and labour relations.
But now, the National Security Adviser and the NCAA have presently put our hopes of any positive outcomes to the sword. This is the reason for this press conference.”
They further said “we are greatly perturbed to learn that the office of the National Security Adviser has now turned this grave national security breach by Air Peace into child play by converting the urgent need to remedy the breach into the pursuit of the private interest of airlines. Information available to us indicate that the National Security Adviser has called a meeting of the Nigerian Intelligence Community to discuss the abrogation of the Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) and Cargo Sales Charge (CSC) on the ground that their collection constitutes a threat to national security. We understand that this is the demand by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) as panacea to avert further security breaches at Nigerian airports and in defense of the security breach by Air peace on 11th August, 2026.
What this means is that the breach committed by Air Peace has been jettisoned and the avowed position of AON for the abrogation of TSC has been promoted by the NSA over such a serious national security breach.
It is indeed curious that the National Security Adviser is able to find a nexus between the TSC and CSC collected from passengers without complain and a violent protest by an airline over lawful picketing carried out against it. As a matter of fact, that such a matter could occupy the attention of the highly revered Nigerian Intelligence Community does grave assault on our collective sensibilities and portrays the intelligencia as a tool in aid of private interests.”
They explain that the “Ticket Sales Charge is a statutory charge on passengers, provided for by law, collected by the airlines on behalf of the Federal Government, and remitted to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for sharing among all aviation agencies – NCAA, Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Nigeria Safety and Investigation Bureau (NSIB) and Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) – for the performance of their statutory safety, security, meteorological, investigation and regulatory functions. TSC is the lifeblood of the agencies. Without it, safety oversight collapses. Without it, air navigation services suffer. Without it, accident investigation as well as weather forecasting are impaired. If TSC is abrogated without a viable alternative funding model, this industry will become non-functional – unsafe in fact. This will return Nigeria to the era of frequent air mishaps; an era we should like to move far away from.
It is important to stress that aviation agencies are disallowed from charging fees for the purpose of making a profit. They are allowed only cost-recovery charges as an obligation Nigeria owes to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the United Nations agency with oversight over global aviation. This is why TSC has been used to support the Federal Government’s effort to develop aviation.
It is also important to stress that TSC is not a charge on the airline. It is charge borne wholly by passengers who pay it as a percentage of the cost of the purchased ticket. Therefore, there is no bases for the complaints AON has against the TSC, let alone link it with airports security.
We shall not here dwell much on the negative implications of abrogating TSC because the Ministry of Aviation and its agencies who will be at the meeting with the Intelligence Community know too well these implications. But we must warn that the NSA does not use aviation’s livewire to feather the nest of favoured citizens at the expense of aviation’s wellbeing. To do so will jeopardize many years of intense effort by stakeholders to build Nigeria’s reputation for aviation safety and security. The current attempt to pull the wool over our eyes and allow Air Peace to walk away with blue murder can only rub mud on such efforts and reverse the gains we are presently enjoying.
It is also necessary to let the Intelligence Community be aware that the TSC derives from an Act of the National Assembly – the NCAA Act – and as such will not lend itself to the whims of individuals.”
The unions frowned at the fact that “Air Peace walked out on the Regulator, NCAA. The Police are investigating the Unions, and Not Air Peace. And the National Security Adviser is discussing how to implement Air Peace’s demand of abrogating TSC instead of holding Air Peace to account for its national security breach. Ladies and Gentlemen, you can all see that Air Peace is clearly above this country, Nigeria. The Airline can do whatever it wishes and no one can do anything about it.
Next we should expect that should the unions picket Air Peace for failure to remit taxes deducted from staff salaries, Air Peace will then use its vehicles to block the runway. And should the NSA ask Air Peace about such incidence, the Airline will say that payment of tax is the security challenge. The NSA will summon the meeting of the Nigerian Intelligence Community to discuss how to abrogate taxes.
What are we saying? We are saying that the NSA is setting a very dangerous precedent by its present actions and inactions. These are indeed perilous times for aviation.
Time has come, therefore, to find out why the Air Peace has become such a behemoth that is clearly untouchable. So, we ask, who really owns Air Peace? From where did the money to set it up come? Who is the power at the top pulling strings to shield the Airline from reproach?
For us, after this press conference we shall approach the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to request a forensic audit on Air Peace’s funding as a means of clarifying the fog that surrounds this mystery.”
