Air Traffic Controllers’ Strike Grounds Domestic Flights In Nigeria

Domestic flights across the country were grounded for over six hours on Thursday as a result of the industrial action embarked upon by Air Traffic Controllers in Nigeria.

Thousands of passengers were left stranded at various airports in Nigeria during the period that the strike lasted.

PUNCH Newspaper reports that Sources at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, told our correspondent that the strike was due to a lingering crisis between the controllers and their management.

A senior official at the NAIA, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “The Air Traffic Controllers are agitating for the payment of certain amount of money which was meant to be paid by their management since last year. But this money has not been paid despite several pleas and threats. So they want to use this opportunity to let everyone know and if possible knock out the management.

“It is clear that the strike is to force their management to pay them and to also make the government aware of what is happening in their organisation. Since morning, flights have been disrupted all over Nigeria, except international flights.

“The strike is not against the Federal Government but is as a result of an internal issue between the controllers and their management. They want to use this opportunity to push their management to meet their demands.”

Efforts to get the reaction of the umbrella association of the controllers, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, were not successful.