Hundreds
of employees of Aero Contractors Airline on Wednesday staged peaceful protest
over the closure of the airline by the Asset Management Company of Nigeria.
The protest was organised
by the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and National
Union of Air Transport Employees.
The workers, who began
the protest at about 8.45a.m, marched round the Murtala Muhammed Airport,
Lagos, carrying various placards expressing their grievances.
The placards had
inscriptions such as, “Don’t Allow Aero to Die“, “Save Aero from AMCON“ and
“Aero must not go the way of Nigeria Airways“, among others.
Speaking on behalf of the
protesters, the Secretary, ATSSSAN, Mrs Frances Akinjole, condemned the “illegal
closure’’ of Aero Contractors by AMCON, adding that they would resist the plan
to liquidate the company.
Akinjole accused AMCON of
running the airline aground after it took over majority shares in 2011 by
approving bogus salaries and allowances for its representatives.
She said, “Before AMCON
took over, the airline had 11 operational aeroplane. They claim to have
injected N12 billion in the company, but today, the airline has only three
aircraft.
“This is calling on all
well-meaning Nigerians to please come to the aid of Aero at this crucial time
in her life.
“Aero should not be
allowed to die from the strangle of AMCON.”
She said that the threat
to liquidate the airline would render its over 800 staff unemployed which would
have negative effects on the already sick Nigerian economy.
-NAN
No comments:
Post a Comment