As part of efforts to strengthen laws against air rage, the Federal Government has deposited the Protocol to amend the Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, done at Montreal on April 4, 2014’ also known as “The Montreal Protocol 2014”, with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)

Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, made the deposition on behalf of Nigeria at the United Nation agency’s headquarters in Montreal, Canada.

In a statement issued by the Director, Public Affairs, James Odaudu , the Minister while depositing the Montreal Protocol 2014 said: “This is historic for Nigeria having been the 22nd state to deposit the ratification and give strength to the implementation which will come into effect from January 1, 2020. It is President Muhammadu Buhari’s desire that this law come into effect because it will mitigate against unlawful interference on board aircraft.

“Nigeria will continue to support any law that will make air transport even safer and this is one of them.”

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Secretary General of ICAO, Dr. Fang Liu, while accepting the document attested to the fact that ICAO needs 22 countries to ratify this protocol for it to become effected and Nigeria is the 22nd state to have completed the process hence, it will come into effect from 2 January 2020.

“I am delighted to announce that with this deposit, the Montreal Protocol 2014 will enter into force on January 2020. I wish to commend Nigeria for being the twenty-second state to have completed the ratification process of this instrument.

“The Montreal Protocol 2014 amends the convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, done at Tokyo on 14 September 1963 (Tokyo Convention, 1963). The Protocol addresses the issue of rising incidents of unruly and disruptive behavior on board aircraft by significantly improving the ability of states to expand jurisdiction over relevant offences and acts to the operator. The Protocol will also serve to enhance global aviation security provisions by expressly extending legal recognition and protections to n-flight security officers.