The Chairman House Committee on Aviation, Hon Nnolim Nnaji, on Thursday, called on regulatory agencies at various airports to bar any intending travellers from who failed to adhere strictly to the safety guidelines put in place by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on COVID-19, from accessing the airports forthwith.

Hon Nnaji who stated this via a statement made available to newsmen expressed displeasure over the flagrant abuse of the safety protocols put in place by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) in line with the NCDC for the re-opening of air transport services.

Hon Nnaji who was reacting to the reports of some highly placed Nigerians who refused to subject themselves to the health protocols instituted at the airports to safeguard the lives of airport workers and passengers against the deadly coronavirus maintained that those who refuse to subject themselves to the protocols are denied future access to the airports.

He said: “It was regrettable that people who pride themselves as leaders rather than show examples chose to exhibit this type of indiscipline to endanger the lives of both airport workers and other users of the airports.

“This type of behaviour can not be tolerated. It is not a must that you have to travel by air but if you choose to, you must abide by the laid down procedures established by FAAN and NCAA in line with the NCDC guidelines,” the chairman, House Committee on Aviation stressed.

He also urged the leadership of the regulatory agencies to be firm and reiterated the need for the front line staff especially the airport security and Health officials to be courageous in carrying out their duties to ensure that every passenger no matter the status observes the protocols.

Hon Nnaji who represents Nkanu East/West Federal Constituency, Enugu State in the House of Representatives further expressed the support of the entire members and leadership of National Assembly for the aviation agencies and the frontline staff in the bid to enforce the extant regulations.

“I am sure the Executive and Judicial arms of government are equally behind them. A lot of money has been sunk into the industry to meet the criteria in terms of protocols, training and materials deployment by the Airline operators and FAAN, therefore the government cannot tolerate any acts that will rubbish the whole essence.

“I want to also assure Nigerians that we in the National Assembly have resolved to abide by the protocols and we will not allow anyone no matter the position in the society to unnecessarily endanger the lives of Nigerians,” he noted.