THE Federal Government is in talks with the Rivers State government over the detained Caverton Helicopter pilots, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, said yesterday.
The pilots were arrested by the police for flouting the state’s government’s directive by flying into the Air Force Base in Port Harcourt after Governor Nyesom Wike had given lockdown order.
Wake gave the directive following the spread of COVID-19 and the confirmation of the index case in the Southsouth state.
Giving an update at its daily briefing on Monday, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, Hassan Musa, said there was a need to fast-track the pilots’ release considering threats by various unions in the aviation sector to go on strike.
He said: “The Federal Government is in consultation with the Rivers State government to have them released as soon as possible because their arrest is taking a different dimension as Air Traffic Union and other unions in the aviation sector are threatening to go on strike.
“We hope that this misunderstanding will soon be resolved so that we can have them out as their operation was legal.”

By Faith Yahaya