Posted by By UCHE USIM on
Peeved by the humiliating treatment meted out to a Nigerian passenger, Ayodeji Omotade, aboard a Lagos-bound British Airways flight from London last month, the Federal Government has ordered a thorough probe into the incident with a view to sanctioning the airline, if found culpable.
Peeved by the humiliating treatment meted out to a Nigerian passenger, Ayodeji Omotade, aboard a Lagos-bound British Airways flight from London last month, the Federal Government has ordered a thorough probe into the incident with a view to sanctioning the airline, if found culpable.
Minister of State for Air Transport, Mr. Felix Hassan Hyat, told aviation journalists on Wednesday night that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Director General, Dr. Harold Demuren, has been directed to carry out extensive investigation on the issue and subsequently forward a report to the Federal Government highlighting the best things that can be done.
More so, as a result of the development, hundreds of Nigerians in diaspora have threatened to boycott the United Kingdom's mega carrier, especially now that Nigerian airlines are now operating into that country all because of the shabby manner the airline treated a Nigerian who was forced back to the country last month.
On March 27 this year, about 137 Nigerian passengers aboard British Airways flight 0075 from London to Lagos witnessed the gory treatment of Omotade, who was handcuffed and forced into the flight.
According to a passenger, Louis Odion, who was on the same flight, the incident caused some uproar on the plane, making every Nigerian around feel assaulted.
In reaction to the ill treatment, Omotade called on the British immigration officials humiliating him to exercise restraint unless they wanted to snuff life out of him.
Rather than heed the words of mercy from Omotade, the overzealous British Immigration officials descended heavily on him.
They later took both of them (the deportee and the sympathizer) out of the plane.
After a while, the deportee was returned on board, while Omotade was arrested and detained.
Miffed by that incident, the Nigerians, who were witnesses, and many others who read the report in the British tabloid, Daily Mirror, wrote a protest letter, which was signed by over 1000 Nigerians to the president, the Senate president and the speaker of the House of Representatives, demanding a front page apology in a national Nigerian daily newspaper to all passengers on-board flight BA0075, a written apology and appropriate compensation to Mr. Ayo Omotade, lifting of the life ban imposed on Omotade by BA and all criminal charges against him dropped forthwith.
The Nigerians also demanded that BA should sign an undertaking that it would desist from such attitude in future and April 30 was given as deadline for the airline to respond.
'Failure on the part of the British Airways to comply to the above demands will result in us calling for worldwide boycott of British Airways by Nigerians," the petition stated.
Maltreatment of Nigerians and spraying inside the flights coming into Lagos were the butt of dispute between the former Minister of State, Air Transport, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, who insisted that the spraying must stop and that BA should adopt a better attitude while dealing with Nigerian passengers.
Commenting on the issue, Omotade said: 'There are also numerous accounts of less than acceptable customer service by BA to Nigerians on board flights to and from Nigeria. Such treatment must stop."
It was reported that the BA pilot took the 'extra-ordinary decision" to boot off everyone who had witnessed the arrest of Mr. Omotade, an IT consultant from Chatham, Kent.