The Lagos State Police Command has 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.”
The spokesperson for the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, Hope Ivbaze noted that security had been beefed up at the airport because the airport is the nation’s gateway.
She said, “You won’t expect that this kind of information will go around and security will not be beefed up.
“The airport is the nation’s gateway. Certainly, we have existing security operatives at the airport and when there are things like this, security is further beefed up.’’
The National President, ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke has commended the students for fighting for their rights.
“We commend NANS members for fighting for their rights. It is their right. The pro-chancellors are doing well too. We hope the government will listen to them because they (pro-chancellors) understand what is happening in the Nigerian universities,” he said.
Osodeke also said that it would honour the invitation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila to a meeting on Tuesday.