Senator Adams Oshiomhole on Wednesday morning disrupted activities at the Zulu Terminal of the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) in Lagos after he missed his flight to Abuja due to a late arrival.
The senator, who represents Edo North and is also a former governor of Edo State, arrived at the terminal around 6:10 a.m. for a 6:30 a.m. Air Peace flight.
By the time he got there, check-in had already closed and the flight had departed.
Rather than leave the area, Oshiomhole reportedly blocked the terminal entrance, causing a halt in passenger movement.
Airport sources said the lawmaker refused to move, even after being approached several times by the terminal manager and other staff members.
His action left many other passengers stranded as operations at the terminal were temporarily stopped.
The situation grew tense, prompting the intervention of the regional manager, who called an emergency meeting to calm things down and persuade the senator to step aside.
Eyewitnesses said staff members were seen pleading with him as the disruption created confusion across the terminal.
Air Peace maintained its policy of not delaying flights for late passengers and declined to accommodate the senator despite the pressure.
The Zulu Terminal, part of the domestic section of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, handles flights to several Nigerian cities including Abuja, Port Harcourt, Benin, and Enugu.
It was recently expanded to handle over 1,000 passengers at a time.
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While the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said it had not been officially informed about the incident, Air Peace issued a statement condemning the politician’s conduct.
The airline explained that its staff were assaulted and its terminal entrance was barricaded by the lawmaker, forcing them to reroute other passengers through a different terminal to avoid further disruption.
The kind of animals in government in Nigeria. No respect to law and order.
Some of these so called politicians need to do brain test periodically.
Power intoxication.
Air peace has a wise management.
This could be to trap the company in order to clamp it down. Let’s watch Government’s meassure against this disruption at that level.
But why was it said he was late when he arrived at 6:10am for a flight departing at 6:30am and the fight left before his arrival. Please explain or focus would be on this instead of the disruption.
What was done to the senator and other travellers is an open corruption and daylight rubbery. Perhaps people commenting should first listen to the background voice and the senator’s story.