More than 600 passengers
travelling to Nigeria from various destinations are now stranded in Addis Ababa
following the cancellation of Ethiopian Airlines flights to Abuja and Lagos
since Tuesday.
The correspondent in Addis
Ababa reports that the cancellation of all flights to Nigeria was as a result
of the ongoing nationwide strike against the removal of oil subsidy embarked by
the NLC and the TUC.
Passengers were on transit
to Nigeria through Addis Ababa from China, Dubai and India among other
countries.
Those stranded include men,
women and children back from business and medical trips as well as some
Nigerian students studying abroad.
Some of the stranded
passengers said at Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa on Wednesday that
they have been in Addis Ababa since Monday.
They expressed displeasure
with the cancellation and many of them complained that they do not have money
on them.
“We have been here since
Monday, the airline is paying for our accommodation and feeding as provided by
our contract with the airline, but we are tired of staying here’’, Mr Moses
Aku, one of the passengers said.”
Sen. Hadi Sirika (CPC-Katsina), who was among the stranded passengers, said he was making efforts to re-route his
flight and return to Nigeria as soon as possible.
They appealed to the
Nigerian embassy to come to their aid as most of them have spent their money
before departure.
Efforts to speak to Mrs
Wogayehu Terefe, spokesman of Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa was abortive as
she did not respond to calls and text messages sent to her.
However, an official of the
airline said, the airline decided to cancel its flights to Nigeria because
there were no handlers at the airports to attend to the aircraft on arrival.
The official said on Monday
one of its aircraft that landed in Lagos was left unattended for more than
seven hours because of the strike.
“It is not in our interest
to keep the passengers here because it is economically unwise to keep hundreds
of people for many days and taking care of their hotel bills and feeding,” the
official, who pleaded anonymity, said.
Mr Bulus Lolo, Nigeria’s
ambassador to Ethiopia said the embassy would assist the stranded Nigerians.
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