The operational activities of Green Africa Airways were temporarily halted on Saturday morning at the Ibadan Airport in Oyo State, following a show of intimidation from officers of the Department of State Services (DSS).
The show stemmed from the airline’s decision to deny boarding to the Director of the Oyo State DSS because his name was not on the passenger’s list.
An assaulted staff of Green Africa Airlines told FIJ that representatives of the director met them this morning to check their boss in, but they refused because he was not supposed to fly on the available flight.
“When we opened the ticket they came with, we told them the director had to either reschedule with N27,000 or get a new ticket for the day. I don’t know if his representatives relayed the story with him, but when they returned, eight of them came for us, saying we refused their boss’s boarding,”
The Green Africa staff added that the masked DSS officials then forced all other staff into their cars and drove them to their office in Aleshinloye, where they were forced to apologise in a letter.
“The guy who picked me harassed me. He pulled my clothes off, saying I must follow them. He was masked, and he used a faz cap to conceal his face.
“When we got to the state director, we explained what we told his representatives, but he said they didn’t give him that information. A colleague of mine then said he explained to the director directly that he was supposed to pay an additional N27,000.
“We were then forced to write an apology letter. It was crazy because they handcuffed my colleagues at gunpoint. We could not have gotten a ticket for him.”
An eyewitness also told FIJ that the Oyo State DSS Director invaded the airport with his boys to arrest Green Africa Airways staff because they refused to board him on their flight.
According to the source, the director shut down the operation of the airline, assaulted and arrested the Green Africa staff on the ground, and detained them at the DSS office in Alesinloye.
When FIJ called Peter Afunnaya, the DSS Spokesperson, for comments, he did not respond. As of press time, he had not responded to a text sent to his phone.
