Air Peace has reacted to its reported involvement in the arrest and detention of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, by operatives of the Department of States Services and his questioning by the Nigeria Police Force.
The position of the indigenous airline was made known in a statement signed on Tuesday by its Spokesperson, Omotade Makinwa.
The airline said its involvement in the case against Ajaero stemmed from its petition against the NLC president in September 2023 during the face-off of the union with the Imo State Government.
It said the petition followed a disruption of its flight by the NLC in a matter that did not involve it.
The airline said it was shocked that the petition, to which the police did not respond, has now become the subject of the arrest of Ajaero, one year after.
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It said this was also coming after the airline and NLC had resolved the issue.
The statement said: “Air Peace Airline expresses deep concern over recent media reports regarding the arrest of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in connection to a petition filed by the airline in September 2023.
“This development, which has led to negative publicity, does not reflect the current relationship between Air Peace and the NLC.
“It is important to clarify the events leading up to the petition.
“On the 3rd of May, 2023, the NLC disrupted Air Peace operations as part of a broader conflict with the Imo State government.
“Although Air Peace had no involvement in the dispute between the NLC and the Imo State government, our airline was unfortunately used as a tool to exert pressure on the government.
“This unlawful disruption of our services caused significant financial losses and impacted the travel plans of many Nigerians across multiple states.
“In response to this disruption, Air Peace’s legal team submitted a formal petition against the NLC to the Nigerian Police.
“Despite our repeated efforts to follow up on the petition, the Police failed to take prompt action.
“However, over a year later, the Nigerian Police have chosen to act on the original petition, which has now led to the alleged arrest of the NLC president.
“Prior to this arrest, the airline and the NLC had already reached an amicable resolution, and Air Peace had withdrawn its petition, allowing a positive working relationship to resume between the two organizations.”
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