Students to ground Lagos airport, police threaten clash

CURSORY: The Nigerian police has responded to the threat made by protesting students to ground international airports, stating that they are confidently ready and no such thing will happen on their watch.

Nigerian students have taken to the streets to protest the ongoing ASUU strike, stating that they were tired of staying at home and urged the federal government to meet ASUU demands.

In a bid to show how serious they are, the students had blocked the major express roads un Lagos obstructing the flow of traffic for hours.

Recently, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) had released a statement saying that they will ground the international airports

Nigerian students have taken to the streets to protest the ongoing ASUU strike, stating that they were tired of staying at home and urged the federal government to meet ASUU demands.

In a bid to show how serious they are, the students had blocked the major express roads un Lagos obstructing the flow of traffic for hours.

Recently, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) had released a statement saying that they will ground the international airports.

Reacting to this, The Nigerian Police authorities said the students “are free to come out and see what awaits them.”

NANs National Taskforce Chairman, Olumide Ojo, told one of our correspondents that the association was aware of the Federal Government’s plan to mobilise the military against its protest.

He said the move would, however, not stop the association’s protest at the Lagos airport.

Ojo said, “We can secure ourselves against external forces. We are aware that the Federal Government is mobilising the military to the venue of our protest but that will not stop us from barricading the airport.

“Since last Tuesday, we have been grounding the major highways from Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to Guru Maharaji, we blocked Gbongan and so on. These are the roads being used by the masses, so we decided to focus on the routes government officials use most, which are the international airports and others.

“Nigerians should reschedule their flights because tomorrow (today) will be grounded. No one will go out, no one will come in.”

 NANS Coordinator, Zone D, Adegboye Olatunji also confirmed the development in a separate interview.

He noted that the Lagos airport would be the first among the airports to be grounded by the students.

“The Lagos airport will be grounded on Monday (today). All we want is for the government to answer us. We want an end to the strike.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Command dismissed the threat by the student body to ground operations at the Lagos airport and urged citizens to go about their lawful duties.

The command’s spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin said, “Speaking from a position of confidence, everything is intact, and there is no threat on the airport or the airspace.

“However, the protesters who issued the threat are free to come out and see what awaits them. We, however, urge law-abiding Lagosians to go about their lawful duties without fear of intimidation or harassment.”

The airport police command’s spokes person, Olayinka Ojelade, also said, “Our men have been on standby since Friday, so nobody is folding arms to watch the students disrupt aviation activities.

“They can’t enter the airport; they can only block the entrance to the airport. Whoever is travelling will know how to bypass them and enter the airport. No airline is on strike, so, they will attend to their passengers. Nobody can ground flight operations, they have been warned.”

Read Also: ASUU strike: We’ll ground airports after shutting down highways  for 4 days, students vow

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