The Federal Government has warned international airlines against maltreating Nigerian passengers.
The Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, who handed this warning on Monday averred that there would be dire consequences for airline operators who treat Nigerians with utter disdain.
Sirika made this remark when a delegation from the Emirates Group paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja on Monday.
A statement issued by the Deputy Director, Press and Public Affairs in the ministry quoted the minister as telling his guests that the government would not condone the practice of subjecting Nigerians to all forms of ill treatment like forcing them to walk across long distances before boarding or using small aircraft that lack the capacity to carry the travellers along with their luggage to their destinations.
The warning was prompted by the recent action of Turkish Airlines, after it brought in passengers from Istanbul to Abuja on two occasions without their luggage.
The statement noted that Sirika informed the visiting group that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority had been directed to invoke all relevant laws to protect the interest and rights of Nigerians and others from being flagrantly abused by airlines.
On the ongoing construction of the second terminal at the NAIA, the minister gave an assurance that the facility would be ready before the end of the year.