Organised labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress have shut down the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, as part of its ongoing demonstrations against the manhandling of the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, in Imo state on November 1.

The union leaders and members descended upon the airport on Thursday morning, cordoning off crucial access. witnesses reported a complete standstill of vehicular traffic on the airport’s access roads and driveways leading to vital terminals, leaving airport staff and passengers stranded, with some resorting to trekking into the facility.

The spokesperson for the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, Yakubu Henrietta, had yet to respond to inquiries regarding the potential impact of the disruptions on scheduled flights.

With the airport effectively barricaded, the likelihood of flight disruptions, delays, and cancellations looms, potentially extending to international flights.

Mr Ajaero was in Imo State in October where he had been attending consultations and publicly engaging issues affecting the members of the union in the state. He convened a press conference on October 30 where he highlighted grievances of organised labour against the state. They include outstanding salary arrears, “unjust” and non-transparent labelling of 11,000 workers as ghost employees, unsettled gratuities, non-compliance with the N30,000 minimum wage act, and the declaration of 10,000 pensioners as ghost retirees.

In response to these issues, he announced demonstrations against the state government, urging fulfillment of its responsibilities to workers.

“…this is to demonstrate our outrage and stop the continuing violation of the rights and privileges of workers in the state,” he said.

Subsequently, Mr Ajaero was arrested and subjected to severe brutality by a group of individuals, led by officers of the police force but consisting of both state and non-state actors. The labour unions allege that there were strong indications that the syndicate was executing the orders of Governor Hope Uzodimma.

The governor, currently seeking re-election on Saturday, seems concerned about the possible adverse impact of the demonstrations on his political ambition,

The unions condemned the assault on Mr Ajaero and demanded that the Federal Government investigate the matter and take steps which include but are not limited to the sanctioning and removal of the commissioner of police in the Imo state command including his subordinates at the area command where the hatchet job was executed.

The demand also included an independent and unbiased professional medical examination of Mr Ajaero to ascertain the extent of the physical and psychological injuries he suffered, and the total implementation of all outstanding agreements reached with the Imo State Government.

The NLC issued November 14 as the deadline for the government to comply with the demands but efforts were already being made through the demonstrations in Lagos and Abuja to signal the unions’ seriousness and commitment to pressing for justice and accountability.