Friday, May 2, 2008

British Airways explains alleged maltreatment of Nigerians
By Wole Shadare

ONE of Europe's mega carriers, British Airways, yesterday expressed its regrets over the alleged maltreatment of some Nigerians aboard its March 27, 2008, flight from London Heathrow to Lagos.

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A statement by the Media Consultant of the carrier, Mr. Ademola Adedoyin, yesterday, regretted "the upset that the events aboard the BA-75 flight to Lagos on March 27 caused Nigerians. We have made it clear that the decision to off-load passengers was made in consultation with and on the advice of the United Kingdom (UK) Police, and the aim of this decision was to ensure the safety of our passengers, aircraft and crews".

Off-loading of passengers, according to Adedoyin, is not a decision that is taken lightly and is a rare occurrence.

The carrier said the disturbance aboard the BA-75 service to Lagos on that day was a very serious incident which required the presence of 20 uniformed police officers to control.

It would be recalled that following the incident, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua directed that the matter be investigated and reported to him.

In the same vein, Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren, who claimed he had investigated the incident, said the country would no longer tolerate the racial discrimination against its citizens anywhere in the world.

"Given the level of disruption aboard the plane as it was preparing to depart, it was not possible to pin-point which passengers were the most involved. In addition, our crew members were subjected to both verbal abuse and physical assault, which, in the confined space of an aircraft, can be a particularly serious issue. Hence the police decided, with the agreement of the captain, that it would be unwise to let all the passengers travel on the aircraft as their behaviour could pose a safety risk", Adedoyin added.

He reiterated that of the 133 passengers offloaded following the disturbance, 64 re-boarded the flight before take-off.

"Those off-loaded were of various nationalities, including British and American passengers. There was also a mix of nationalities among those who flew, including Nigerian passengers", he added.

The arrest and detention of one of the passengers involved, according to him, was a police decision "and is not something that British Airways can comment on".

The remaining off-loaded passengers, he reiterated, were offered overnight accommodation where appropriate and were re-booked on alternative flights.