Air Peace drags NLC, TUC to court, seeks N1.7bn as damages
The administration of Air Peace has dragged the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Alternate Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) to court docket, looking out for N1.7billion over alleged disruption of its services and products.
The airline moreover joined the President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, the President of TUC, Festus Osifoh, Emmanuel Ugboaja and Nuhu Toro as defendants within the swimsuit.
Within the swimsuit filed sooner than a Federal Excessive Court in Lagos sitting in Lagos, Air Peace demanded N1billion as overall damages, N450 million as special damages and N250 million as exemplary damages from the leaders of the 2 unions.
In an affidavit hooked up to the swimsuit, Air Peace averred that on Could 3, 2023, its employees on accountability were confronted by a loud mob which invaded their offices, take a look at-in counters and work areas on the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos and the Murtala Mohammed Airport Terminal 1 (MM1) premises, truly disrupting their work; disorganising and upturning tables, unplugging and pushing away desktops and non-public computers frail for employment by the employees, a few of who sustained injuries within the melee.
Air Peace talked about from the songs they sang and the instructions that the obvious leaders loudly issued true via the disruption, it straight away grew to change into determined that the mob inflicting the disruptive scene were members of the NLC and TUC, a few of whom obtained into violent altercations, injuring a few of its potentialities and workers who voiced their frustrations on the disruption and frustration of their trot plans by the Defendants’ antics.
The plaintiffs moreover acknowledged that the defendant’s actions had inevitable ripple outcomes on its operations in other airports within the nation, in conjunction with the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, and Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri, all of which the Plaintiff’s scheduled flights might possibly per chance no longer rob off from or land at.
That the Defendants, as the Plaintiff changed into to study later, had some grouse against the Governor of Imo Deliver, Chief Hope Uzodimma, and to “punish him”, made up our minds upon a total shutdown of Imo Deliver foundation from Wednesday, Could 3, 2023, as changed into acknowledged amongst other things in their joint communiqué of Could 1, 2023.
That Lagos is the operational hub and nerve centre of the airline operations, and an instantaneous consequence of the Defendants’ malicious and unlawful invasion of its work areas/offices and forcible prevention of its functions, as detailed above, changed into the cancellation of its flights billed for assorted locations.
A lot of Airpeace workers suffered bodily molestation and incurred bruises which ended in their psychological trauma and hospital visitations for treatments, with some having to be excused for some days’ absence from work to get well.
As well as to the financial losses, the Plaintiff has moreover suffered a grave damage to its change standing, no longer simplest within the eyes of its flying potentialities but moreover in these of plenty of the folk and its investors.
Its attorneys wrote letters dated Could 12, 2023, to the defendants stressful that they promptly atone for their unjustifiable, vulgar and malicious injuries to it, but which quiz they’ve uncared for and are as a substitute threatening extra disturbance and damage to its operations.
That the Defendants threatened and intend, unless restrained by the Honourable Court, to proceed to intimidate and coerce the Plaintiff’s servants and potentialities and consequentially location off it extra damage and losses.
The plaintiff, attributable to this truth, submitted that the defendant’s behavior within the circumstances of this swimsuit and ensuing in its main losses are egregiously malicious, nasty and most deserving of reproach by the award of exemplary damages.
Air Peace changed into asking the court docket to suppose that given the compassionate nature of aviation ordinarily, and particularly within the present local weather of pervasive horror of insecurity over long-a long way-off travels within Nigeria by other modes of transportation, the Defendants’ calculated precipitation of grounding all its flights for the length of Nigeria for the exact motive that it changed into accountable for the bulk of air-passenger and trustworthy flights within the nation to location off great nationwide paralysis, constituted condemnable sabotage of the nationwide financial system and security.
The plaintiff moreover asked the court docket for an train of perpetual injunction restraining the Defendants by themselves, their brokers/servants/privies or in every other case, however, from repeating/continuing the acts of intimidation and coercion against it.
