The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has ordered the identification, arrest, and prosecution of an Air Peace driver accused of driving a bus onto the airside of the Lagos airport and leaving it there during Tuesday’s industrial picketing by aviation unions.
The regulatory intervention has added a fresh dimension to the dispute between organised labour and domestic airlines over the alleged non-remittance of the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) and claims that some carriers restrict workers from joining trade unions.
The NCAA spokesman, Michael Achimugu, confirmed that the authority had directed that the driver be identified and arrested, and that the alleged obstruction of the runway was unacceptable and would be investigated under the relevant aviation laws.
Achimugu said the driver reportedly drove a large bus into the runway area during the enforcement of the picketing and abandoned the vehicle.
READ RELATED NEWS UPDATES
He said, “We have ordered that the driver in question be identified and arrested for onward prosecution. How can somebody block the runway? That is seriously uncalled for. We’ll investigate, and the necessary portions of the Act will be invoked.”
An airport source told journalists that the driver had moved the bus onto the airside while the unions were enforcing their picketing action. The source said the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) subsequently towed the vehicle away to restore movement within the restricted area.
Air Peace, however, rejected the allegation that its vehicle blocked the runway.
The airline’s spokesman, Efe Whiskey-Osifo, challenged the account and demanded evidence, insisting that the bus did not obstruct the runway.
“Show me your pictures. Do you know the runway better than I do? The bus did not block the runway. Do you know what a runway is?” she said.
The alleged runway incident occurred as the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), backed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), began picketing Air Peace.
New Daily Prime reported on August 11, 2026 that the unions had earlier issued three stages of warning before commencing the action, where they accused airlines of failing to remit the statutory five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) payable to aviation agencies. They also alleged that some airlines had made it difficult for employees to join trade unions freely, while workers are allegedly facing discrimination or victimisation, according to the report.
The unions maintained that Tuesday’s action followed weeks of attempts to resolve the dispute. They said they regarded the picketing as a restrained response after affected airlines allegedly failed to address their grievances.
The industrial action disrupted flight operations and left passengers stranded at airports. Air Peace was among the airlines affected, and as such, the unions have placed a target on its operations as part of the wider dispute.
The NCAA’s intervention, however, separates the labour disagreement from the regulatory question raised by the alleged movement of a vehicle onto the airside. The authority said its concern was not the unions’ grievance itself but the alleged obstruction of a critical airport operating area.
As for the regulator, the incident now raises a separate question of compliance with aviation safety and operational rules, while the identity and actions of the driver are expected to form part of the investigation.
The NCAA has therefore indicated that the matter will proceed beyond the industrial dispute if investigators establish that the driver violated applicable aviation laws.
