A South East traditional ruler, His Royal Majesty, Eze-Igwe Williams Ezugwu, has condemned the high cost of flight tickets to southern Nigeria, particularly the South East.
He called for presidential intervention to end the ugly trend.
Eze Igwe Ezugwu, who spoke in a statement issued in Abuja, called out the chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, saying that “it is unfortunate that airlines owned or controlled by South Easterners like Air Peace is also involved in this marginalisation of Igbo in Nigeria.”
He argued that “in the days of Triax Airlines founded by Igbo philanthropist, Prince Arthur Eze, the defunct Enugu-based domestic airline that operated between 1992 2000 would have taken Igbo home for free.
“Here is the chairman of Air Peace, Barr Allen Onyema, priding himself as a rescuer who donates aircraft to airlift Nigerians abroad but has joined in the unholy treatment of Igbo by transport companies and airlines owners, especially at festive seasons.
“How can it be cheaper to fly from Abuja or Lagos to Borno State than flying from Abuja to Enugu or Owerri?
“Why should it be cheaper to fly to Ghana from Nigeria than going to South East?”, he asked.
While urging the president to intervene, he said, “I think the attention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should be called to these deliberate acts by airlines against southern Nigeria, particularly the South East.
“The Igbo are already bleeding under economic and political marginalisation in Nigeria and the airlines are worsening the situation. Today, even the well-to-do south easterners cannot breathe as a result of the high cost of airline tickets.
“If other airlines are unnecessarily expensive, Air Peace should not have joined in this deliberate inflation of flight tickets to South East,” he said.
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