FAAN fire servicemen on rampage

Gboyega Adeoye, Lagos - 25.07.2008

The atmosphere at the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA) in Lagos took a tumultuous look on Thursday as the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) fire servicemen went on rampage.

The cause, according to them, was as a result of management's refusal to pay their travel allowances after three weeks of commencement of a training.

Though, the management of the authority said an approval had been given for the aggrieved staff, payment could not be effected as at yesterday.

The servicemen in the early hours of the day refused to go for their morning training as well as attend any class work.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, a fire serviceman, who travelled from Port Harcourt, said, “we were not given our transport fare. Nobody is talking about it at all and when we ask, they kept on promising.”

The source, who pleaded anonymity, disclosed that several letters were written to the management through the commandant of the course, but nothing positive came out of it.

Aside the issue of payment of the transportation allowance, the training allowance was also not paid, leading to several participants begging for money.

“We came in about three weeks ago and most of us have exhausted our finances. When we ask for loan, they said we are not members of the cooperative. In fact, we are suffering here as they do not serve good food and we do not have money to buy again,” he lamented.

The participants said they took the action because the first batch of 100 that had the training informed them they went through such a harrowing experience.