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Many stranded in Abuja after Air Peace cancels multiple flights + photos
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Dozens of outraged passengers, including expatriates, children, and families, were left stranded overnight at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja after Air Peace abruptly cancelled multiple flights.
Passengers were forced to sleep on cold, hard aluminium chairs in the departure hall, PUNCH Online has confirmed.
Videos and photographs obtained by our correspondent show frustrated travellers protesting the airline’s negligence. Some stood in anger, demanding answers, while others sat helplessly.
Passengers’ anger was amplified by a wave of cancellations that have plagued Air Peace recently, a situation that has sparked a clash between the airline and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority.
While the NCAA has warned the airline to put an end to its serial delays and cancellations, Air Peace claims the actions are safety-driven and in the interest of the passengers.
Passengers who spoke with our correspondent lamented that their plans were ruined, their patience exhausted, and their voices unheard; they, however, called on the government to intervene and address the growing disruptions in the aviation industry.
The former Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association in Ogun State, Dr. Kunle Ashimi was among those stranded at the airport.
The medical doctor who was scheduled for a 6:00 pm flight on Friday was first shifted to 8:00 pm but remained at the airport till past 3:15 am.
Speaking with our correspondent, Ashimi said, “If it had been a passenger arriving late, they would be penalised or denied boarding entirely. But who holds the airline accountable for this kind of abuse?”
He further said he had booked a hotel in Ikorodu, Lagos, and lamented the financial loss and emotional toll the delay caused him and others.
Recounting different passengers’ painful experiences, Ashimi told our correspondent about an expatriate who missed a once-a-week international connecting flight due to the delay.
Also, a nursing mother, who gave her name simply as Adetoun, said her child has a doctor’s appointment in Lagos very early Saturday morning but has to sleep in the airport hall.
She said, “My child, who is supposed to meet his doctor in the morning, would have to sleep in the airport hall, contending with mosquitoes, which is very painful for me.”
Amidst the outcry, Air Peace aircraft arrived around 3:15 am, eventually landing in Lagos at 4:10 am.
All efforts to get the spokesperson of the airline, Dr Ejike Ndiulo, were unsuccessful. Text messages and calls were not replied to.
Meanwhile, barely 10 hours earlier, the airline had said its decisions to cancel or delay flights are mostly for safety concerns.
Air Peace added that its business priority isn’t profit but safety, even though it has more aircraft than the authority schedules daily.
Air Peace said this in a statement in reply to the warnings by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority for the airline to operate in accordance with its available aircraft, insinuating that the airline was operating more routes than its available aircraft.
Air Peace stated, “At Air Peace, safety is and will always remain our cardinal priority. These delays and cancellations are dictated by safety considerations. We fully empathise with our esteemed passengers who experience discomfort, inconvenience, or disrupted plans due to flight delays or cancellations.
“However, we do not regret taking operational decisions rooted in the protection of human lives and in strict adherence to safety standards. If weather conditions, technical parameters, or operational standards fall short of what is safe, we will not operate that flight,” the airline’s management added.
Troops of Operation ENDURING PEACE, OPEP, in collaboration with the Civilian Joint Task Force, CJTF, have arrested a suspected kidnapper linked to the abduction of a resident in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
This was contained in a statement posted on X by the Nigerian Army.
The post identified the suspect as Buba Ali, 30, adding that he was arrested at about 12:45 pm on Sunday, August 9, at Binawa village in Kauru Local Government Area.
According to post, the suspect was arrested during a joint operation conducted by troops of Sector 7 OPEP and members of the CJTF.
It said the suspect was reportedly linked to the kidnapping of Alhaji Tasi, who was abducted in the village.
“Following his arrest, Ali was taken into custody and is currently being interrogated by security personnel.
“The ongoing investigation is focused on obtaining information that could lead to the identification and arrest of other members of the suspected kidnapping gang,” the Army said.
Nigerian ambassador to South Africa, Femi Fani-Kayode, has rejected claims by an Islamic scholar, Sheikh Yahaya Jingir, that Nigeria is a Muslim country.
In a viral video, Sheikh Jingir, who was preaching to Muslims at an event, said “if you don’t want to accept a Muslim-Muslim ticket, you should leave Nigeria because it belongs to us”.
The comment has continued to generate backlash online as Christians rejected the claim.
Reacting, Fani-kayode in a statement posted on his official X handle on Sunday night, said the cleric’s remark is unhelpful and untrue.
“Worse of all is the fact that it is highly provocative,” the former aviation minister said.
“Kindly take note that it is a very slippery and dangerous slope to take and is best avoided. Nigeria is NOT a Muslim country and neither is she a Christian country.
“She is a SECULAR and MULTI-RELIGIOUS state comprising BOTH Christians and Muslims in equal numbers and that is our strength,” FFK added.
He further stated that President Bola Tinubu’s Muslim/Muslim ticket for 2027 is gaining acceptance “only because of the calibre, ability, sincerity of purpose, character, utility and electoral strength of our Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates and their ability to deliver and not because they are Muslims”.
“One day we may have a Christian/Christian ticket too because with God all things are possible,” he added.
The Osun State Police Command has confirmed the release of the state Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation, Moyowa Adejoorin, who was arrested in connection with a shooting incident at an All Progressives Congress, APC, rally in Ilesa.
The incident occurred on Saturday and reportedly left four people injured, including a teenager identified as Tobi Ilesanmi.
The command’s spokesperson, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, said Adejoorin was taken into custody after police officers arrived at the scene, secured the area and began collecting evidence.
According to Ojelabi, the commissioner’s vehicle was stopped at the location, where an Amotekun operative allegedly linked to the shooting was also found.
“Immediately the incident was reported, our personnel moved to the scene and cordoned off the area before some exhibits were recovered, which included expended cartridges and Amotekun personnel caps.
“Also, Mr Adejoorin was arrested at the scene and taken to the command for questioning as part of the investigation process,” Ojelabi said.
The development came amid heightened attention to the incident after a video circulated on social media on Sunday showing Adejoorin leaving the police command.
Confirming the development, Ojelabi told Vanguard that the commissioner had been released on bail but said he was still awaiting clarification on the status of the Amotekun operative who was arrested alongside him.
“It is true that the commissioner has been released on bail today, but I am yet to clear the situation with the Amotekun personnel arrested with him,” he said.
Police investigations into the circumstances surrounding the shooting are ongoing.
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