600 Nigeria-bound passengers stranded in Ethiopia

(January 13, 2012, Daily Trust)--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 cancellation of all flights to Nigeria was as a result of the ongoing nationwide strike against the removal of oil subsidy embarked upon by the NLC and the TUC. The passengers, Sen. Hadi Sirika (CPC-Katsina), 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 at Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa said they have been in Addis Ababa since Monday.

They appealed to the Nigerian embassy to come to their aid as most of them have spent their money before departure. Effort 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 they decided to cancel flights to Nigeria because there were no handlers at the airports to attend to the aircraft on arrival. Mr Bulus Lolo, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Ethiopia said the embassy would assist the stranded Nigerians. (NAN).

Source: Daily Trust

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