Lagos — National Association of Air Traffic Engineers (NAAE) has announced that it would withdraw its services on Thursday, thereby paralysing communication and radar services in the nation's airspace.

The engineers are protesting the disparity in allowances between them and the Air Traffic Controllers, whose allowances were upped recently by the former Managing Director of NAMA, Captain Ado Sanusi, in tandem with what is obtained in other parts of the world, including countries in West Africa sub-region.

Speaking with aviation correspondents in Lagos yesterday, the General Secretary of NAAE, Bulus Utung Bodam, warned that all services to CNS (communication, navigation and surveillance) equipment, ILS (instrument landing system), navigational aids, surveillance and power to radio communications would be withdrawn with effect from Thursday, February 26,2009 when the one week ultimatum given to the management of NAMA would have expired.

Explaining why they decided to go on strike, Bodam said it was unacceptable to regard one profession (the Air Traffic Controllers) more important than others in the same working environment.

"We have given the government a seven day ultimatum to invite us for dialogue and respond to our request which we submitted to them, if not we will have no option than to withdraw the services that we render, which include communication, navigation and radar services that the association is providing."

The engineers also noted, "We are all on alert, all the stations particularly the major airports and as soon as we have directives from our union, we will down tool on all communication services and others in the Nigerian airspace. "

Bodam also said that their decision to go on strike was provoked by the disparity and injustice with the increase of the allowances for their colleagues, the Air Traffic Controllers, stating that the impending strike would only be avoidable if government would listen to them.

The spokesman explained that the recent increment of the allowances of the controllers has negatively affected the morale and psychological disposition of the engineers on their job, noting that without a stable mind, there was no way the issue of safety in the aviation industry could be guaranteed when their counterparts earn more than them in allowances.

"When someone knows that his counterparts that operate and exist by the virtue of the service he provides technically earns more then he does, he has the right to be angry. Our members are already mentally disturbed, " he said.