Vehicular activities on Monday were paralysed at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos as visually impaired protesters from Farmcraft Centre for the Blind barricaded the road leading to the Airport to protest the closure of their schools.
The protest, which created a massive gridlock, forced passengers to trek long distances to catch up with their flights, even as some travellers were unable to meet up with their scheduled flights due to the traffic disruption.
The demonstrators, who are visually impaired and physically challenged from the School of the Blind and School of the Disabled located around the Isheri area of Lagos, said they were protesting the prolonged closure of their schools for over two years.
Speaking at the scene, the spokesperson of the group, simply referred to as Dolor, said the group’s actions were not violent but aimed at getting President Bola Tinubu’s attention as their repeated appeals to the government have gone unanswered.
“Our school has been shut for over two years despite repeated appeals to the government,” he stated.
According to the protesters, the government’s failure has denied them educational opportunities which they said has forced many physically challenged persons to street begging.
“We are angry because we have no welfare, and most of us have to beg to survive,” Dolour said.
He continued, “Our school has been shut for over two years despite repeated appeals to the government. We have written letters, visited offices in Abuja, but nothing has been done.”
The protesters, involving over 500 visually challenged persons, blocked major access routes to the airport, severely impacting vehicular movement and flight schedules for most of the day.
However, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) advised passengers to monitor traffic reports before setting out for the airport and to confirm their flight status with airlines in case of schedule changes.
The authority also advised the use of alternative routes to bypass gridlocked areas.
FAAN apologised for the inconvenience caused by the disruption and appealed for patience and understanding as efforts were continued to ease the situation.
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