Pro-aviation minister’s protesters ground Akanu Ibiam International Airport

Hundreds of Igbo youths stormed the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu on Saturday, protesting against calls for the removal of Nigeria’s aviation minister, Stella Oduah.

The protest by the youths, under the aegis of Igbo Progressives Union, IPU, grounded activities at the airport temporarily.

Oduah has been under fire from some quarters over the controversies trailing the purchase of two bullet proof cars for her by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA.

Also, the kinsmen of the embattled minister led by High Chief George Nwabueze stood in defence of their daughter exonerating her from any wrong doing in the purchase of the cars.

The protesting young men and women who carried placards with different inscriptions accused an unnamed personality of being behind the calls for the removal of the minister insisting that the intention of the cabal was to stop the minister from going ahead with her transformation agenda in the aviation sector.

The group who spoke through their leader, Emeka Agbo, said Igbo youths were prepared to go the whole hog in ensuring that their daughter was protected, expressing dismay that some highly placed individuals were determined to rubbish the towering pedigree and achievements of the minister.

According to them, “This is a woman that has given the aviation sector a new face since she came into office. Today, our airports can compete with airports in foreign countries. Before she came to office, we were hearing about international airport but today, it has become a reality in Igbo land. We are ready to swim and sink with her”.

On their part, the people of Ogbaru led by Nwabueze said the battle was not about the minister but the 2015 presidential elections.

Chief Nwabueze said some people who were not comfortable with the transformation agenda of the President had ganged up to tarnish the image of members of the federal cabinet and by so doing the president ahead of the next election.

He said the criticisms against the minister of aviation were not based on genuine grounds, but politically motivated.

He claimed that already, all the Shylock businessmen whose concession and lease agreement in the sector were either cancelled or terminated in the public interest were behind Oduah’s present travails.

“Their belief is that once she is out of the way, the old order would return where they would continue to feather their nests”, he said, adding that those behind Oduah’s woes were not fighting for Nigeria, “neither are they fighting for the Nigerian people.

“The cars in question were procured by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority as part of their operational vehicles and put in the pool of the agency. The cars are neither registered in the name of the minister nor that of the Ministry of Aviation.

“Our daughter is innocent in this whole campaign of calumny and we solidly stand by her. We also resist all attempts to pull her down for no justifiable cause”.