Arik Accuses minister of requesting bribe

Officials at Arik Air, whose domestic flight operations across Nigeria were grounded earlier today, have claimed that the carrier was forced out of business for refusing to part with 5% of its corporate shares as Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, demanded.
Today, the beleaguered airline circulated a text message accusing Ms. Oduah of vindictively fomenting crisis within the airline for denying her demand to receive a stake of 5% in Arik. The text message read, “Due to persistent hostility of the Ministry of Aviation, with a minister who is demanding a 5 percent equity in a business where she has no investment...and FAAN management, which has culminated in the use of FAAN staff to stop the airline operations and lock in checked-in passengers in Lagos this morning, Arik Air has suspended all domestic operations until further notice. This issue [borders] on personal interests and not payment of bills; since FAAN has been collecting.”