President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has directed the Minister of State for Transportation (Aviation), Mr Felix Hyatt, to begin an urgent investigation into a March 27, 2008 incident in which British Airways (BA) allegedly ordered more than 100 Nigerians off its London to Lagos flight "for protesting against the brutal treatment of a deportee aboard."
Yar'Adua, who is in Germany for a medical review, asked Hyatt to take all necessary measures and protect "the travelling public from the humiliation they face daily from foreign airlines."
A source told The Guardian that the President had seen reports of the incident from the British media, expressing "disgust" at the "seeming non-chalant attitude of BA officials."
He, therefore, directed that since the minister has not forwarded any report of the incident to his office, he should be formally written to investigate the incident and report back to him.
The source added: "The President is said to be concerned by the recent resurgence of complaints about the poor treatment, discrimination and downright abuse meted out to Nigerians by some foreign airlines operating in the country.
Last month over 100 Nigerian passengers attempted to board a plane in London on a British Airways flight to Lagos, but were ordered off the flight for protesting the heinous treatment of a deportee on the flight. Yar'Adua has vowed not to stand for this kind of treatment. Though he is currently in Germany receiving some sort of medical treatment, he is investigating the situation to determine what course of action to take. This action shows that the president will no longer stand for second-class treatment of Nigerian citizens.
Grade this Post
No comments:
Post a Comment