A Nigerian medical student
returning to school in Ukraine
tells the story of how he nearly
died at the hands of Egypt Air
officials who wrongly routed
him to Moldova, never gave him food for days and called him
bloody Nigerian before
deporting him back to Lagos We serve you the story as written by JOSHUA KUNLE ABDUL-AZEEZ, the student who is lucky to be alive and whose ordeal should interest Nigerians. On Friday, August 15, 2014 my
mother and I went to Egypt Air
head office at 22B Idowu
Taylor Street, Victoria Island,
Lagos to book a return ticket
for me to go back to school to continue my studies at
Dnepropetrovsk Medical
Academy, Dnepropetrovsk
Ukraine. This was about 11:15
am. On entering the Egypt air office
we met Mr. Tony Nzan on
counter 1 to attend to us and
we asked to book a ticket to
Kiev, Ukraine. Mr. Tony Nzan
explained to us the itinerary for the flight going to Ukraine
after which we went to the
bank to withdraw money and
returned to pay for the ticket
and obtained two printouts, so
that my mother could have my return itinerary from Kiev next
year. We reviewed the ticket
itinerary before leaving Egypt
air’s office and immediately
observed that the airport code
indicated on it was different
from what we were familiar with, having traveled to Kiev
before. The ticket indicated an
unfamiliar airport code. We immediately brought this
discovery to another ticketing
officer’s attention who was
seated at Counter 2, as we
were informed that his
colleague, Mr. Nzan, had stepped out of the office. This
ticketing officer restated that
the ticket was full economy
and for Kiev, Ukraine with all
the segments confirmed.
However, we remained unconvinced, given that our
prior experience indicated that
the airport code for Kiev,
Ukraine would usually read
“KBP”. On my scheduled date of
departure (18th August, 2014)
my mother and I arrived for
check-in at 10.30am. Given our
apprehension, we once again
mentioned our concern to the agent at the check-in counter
and requested that she
reconfirm the final travel
destination indicated on my
ticket. She confirmed that the
ticket indicated “KIV” and was bound for Kiev, Ukraine. My
mother then told her it should
read Borispol International
Airport KBP not KIV or
Chisinahu as was indicated on
the ticket. Given our insistence over this
and the fact that there was
now a queue building up
behind us she called her
supervisor, one Mr Lucas to
check the ticket. He asked us what the matter was and we
explained to him that we
believed the routing on my
ticket was wrong. We also told
him we had complained about
this, the day the ticket was purchased but that we were
repeatedly told that the routing
was to Kiev. We also mentioned to him that
we went back to Egypt Air’s
Victoria Island office on
Saturday morning (16th
August ) still very concerned
about the ticket. The place was closed for business. My mum
then asked that I show Mr.
Lucas and his colleague my
residence and study permits for
Ukraine and reaffirm my
intended destination to be Kiev in Ukraine and not the place
indicated on the ticket, which
appeared to be “Chisinahu.” Mr. Lucas proceeded to
telephone Mr. Tony who issued
the ticket to reconfirm routing
but Mr. Tony insisted that the
code (KIV) was Egypt air’s code
for Ukraine. Mr. Tony also became
nonchalant and abusive and
said that my mother “was just
being troublesome”. My mother
then directed that I get the
boarding passes which had earlier been printed for me
since they were insisting it was
Egypt Air’s code for Ukraine
and that they were
representatives of the airline.
She warned Mr. Lucas that for the airline’s sake, she hoped
that they were right and we
were wrong. I checked in my
two suit cases with a total
weight of 47.5kg and went to
the departure gate and boarded the flight.

I arrived Cairo shortly after
10pm same day and was
compelled to remain in the
transit area for 14 hours,
without feeding. No
accommodation was provided by the airline. I presented
myself for boarding at the
boarding gate at 9am the
following morning (August
19th) and was the third
passenger on queue for boarding to Istanbul. When it
was my turn, the Egypt air
boarding staff insisted that I
present my Ukrainian visa
before processing my boarding
pass. She did not ask same of the passengers ahead of me. I
explained that I had a permit
because I school there and
presented the permit stamp on
my passport, whilst explaining
that the document was in my hand luggage. Still, she insisted
that I moved aside and present
the original document. I then
retrieved it from the luggage. Having seen my permit, the
staff still refused to allow me
through and insisted I remain
at the corner I was in. I
complied and watched closely
to see if she would follow the same procedure for all other
passengers boarding, but to my
surprise, not once did she do
so. I remained there until
everyone else had boarded
before she came round to scrutinise the original permit
and eventually allowed me to
board the flight. We departed
Cairo for Istanbul at 10.50am. We arrived at Istanbul at 2pm
on 19th August and I was
again compelled to remain in
transit for another 17 hours,
without accommodation, food
or water. At 7am on 20th August, I boarded the flight in
Istanbul, expecting to arrive
Ukraine at 6am local time.
Once onboard the flight, I slept
off due to fatigue and hunger –
having been deprived of good sleep and food for 2 days at the
time. When I woke up, the
flight hostesses had already
served refreshment and passed
me by. I then requested for my
meal but was told it was too late to be served. Once we landed, believing I
was in Ukraine, I proceeded to
immigration and presented my
travel documents. The
immigration officer asked that
I wait at his desk, left and then returned with a local police
officer. Both officers then
explained to me in Russian
language that I was not in
Ukraine but in Moldova (a
distinct country) and that the best they could do was to send
me back to Istanbul, where I
could then buy a new ticket to
Kiev.

My passport was then handed
over to the pilot of the next
flight to Istanbul and I was
given my baggage tags for my
two suit cases that had by now
been placed in the main cabin of the plane. When I boarded the plane and
sat on seat (23E) assigned to
me, a male member of the
cabin crew ordered me to
stand up, sent me to the back
of the plane and told me not to move. Another member of the
cabin crew sat with me for the
entire duration of the flight. I
felt so degraded at being
treated like a criminal. I was
given neither food nor drink throughout the flight back to
Istanbul. This was now my third
day without food or water. I
had now developed a cough
and my gums were all swollen. We arrived at Istanbul and I
was immediately taken to the
deportation office, where my
passport was handed to the
officer on duty. The officer
interrogated me on what happened and I explained to
him how the airline had
ticketed me to a wrong
destination. I asked if I could
be allowed to buy a ticket to
Ukraine from there (with my school fees in my possession),
which was my intended
destination all along. The officer agreed to my
purchasing a new ticket to Kiev
and I was placed in a room for
over four hours. After two
hours of not knowing what was
going on or what was being done with my documents, I
requested to use the toilet, in
the hope that I would find a
cell phone to borrow and call
my family to inform them of
what was happening, but the officer posted outside the
room refused and ordered me
to sit down. I continued asking to use the
toilet for over 10 minutes until
she finally allowed me to go
and answer the call of nature. I
eventually found a telephone
and then called my elder sister in Nigeria, explained the
situation to her and asked her
to inform my mother. Once my
mother was informed, she
contacted my university and
her Ukrainian liaison agent in Kiev and requested that they
assist by purchasing a ticket on
my behalf for Kiev, which
would enable me to leave for
Ukraine from Istanbul. The ticket was swiftly
purchased and I was forwarded
the “PNR number” by phone. I
then proceeded to Egypt air’s
transit desk and explained
what had happened. I gave the lady on duty the PNR number
for new ticket and requested
her to assist me check-in for
the flight to Ukraine. She
refused to entertain my
explanation and told me they would send me back to Nigeria,
no matter what I did.

Another Egypt airline official
joined us and to my utter shock
and dismay, picked up my
passport and tore it, saying
“these bloody Nigerians”. I
looked at the man expecting an apology, but got none. He
ordered me to stand up, saying
that I was getting on a flight to
Cairo. At about 6pm I was taken to
the boarding gate for the flight
to Cairo and my documents
were handed over to the cabin
crew. I was once again treated
like a criminal and taken to the back of the plane. A cabin crew
member gave me some water
and handed me only one
baggage tag and informed me
that one had gotten missing. I arrived Cairo at 8pm on
20thAugust 2014. My
documents were again passed
from the cabin crew of the
Egypt Air flight I arrived with
to another Egypt air ground official. Yet again, I tried to
explain the situation and my
grueling ordeal over the past
last three days to her. I went as far as showing her
my school papers and residence
permit for Ukraine expecting
some understanding and
empathy, whilst hoping against
hope that she may be different from the others and finally
listen and hopefully help me
get on a flight to school. Instead, she handed me over to
Egyptian police officers, who
locked me up in a deportation
cell without explanation. I
waited in there for about one
hour and then knocked on the door to inquire why I was
locked-up in the cell like a
common criminal. However, I was kept there for
over 12 hours, till the following
morning (21st August),
degraded, dehumanised and
with no food or water for three
full days. At this point I was very weak physically, developed
sores all over my mouth, my
gum was painfully swollen all
round, and I had begun
coughing terribly, with thick
yellow discharges. When I felt like using the toilet
I knocked on the cell door and
an Egyptian policeman came to
open the cell from outside. I
told the Egyptian policeman
that I needed to use the toilet but he declined and forcefully
shoved me back into the cell
and locked the door again.
After few minutes, I, again,
repeated the plea to be
allowed to use the toilet, and the same officer came to the
door. I explained that I was
severely pressed and needed to
use the toilet. Yet again, he
pushed me back into the cell
before I could finish pleading and locked the door. Here I was, 17 years of age, so
far away from home with no
family communication, hungry,
weak, very tired and being
treated like a common criminal
without any human consideration whatsoever; I
became desperately terrified
and wondered if I would live
through this ordeal or die
hopelessly and forgotten in a
strange land. I was eventually deported from
Cairo and arrived back in
Lagos, after four traumatic
days, on 21st August 2014. My
luggage which contained all my
books, newly acquired clothes, birthday gifts (including a
brand new PS4 game console),
money to last me through the
new semester, and other
valuables, remains missing till
date – with no explanation whatsoever from the airline,
regarding its whereabouts. The
luggage that did arrive with
me was visibly damaged, and I
later discovered when I
checked through, that it had been vandalized as several
items packed into it before I
left home were discovered
missing. On arrival in Lagos, I was
straightway rushed off to Rivet
Specialist Hospital at Ajao
Estate, Lagos, for medical
attention as my health had
visibly deteriorated substantially and, as the
hospital would later confirm
my body had become critically
emaciated. I was immediately
placed on critical watch,
administered intravenous fluids, antibiotics and other
prescriptive drugs. A man who was later
identified as Khaled El Rafie
(General Manager Lagos, Egypt
Air), came along with my
mother to meet me at the
airport on arrival. He showed little sympathy for what his
staff and organization had put
a 17-year old passenger
through. He displayed extreme
arrogance and perfunctory
remorse about my plight and, to my total dismay, added more
insult to injury by saying that
his own boss in Egypt
commented that “I may have
been locked up in a cell in Cairo
because of Ebola virus”. When my mum got very angry at his
general approach and
utterances, he told her “why
are you shouting…..?” He
wasn’t going to assist on the
matter anymore, and then he walked away”. This was all
before I was taken to the
hospital for medical attention. Joshua has since returned to
school in Ukraine. He flew on
KLM flight. The immigration helped in
procuring him with another
passport in one day.

Egypt Air reacts By LAWANI MIKAIRU Vanguard investigations at
Egypt Air Head office where Mr
Kunle AbdulAzeez purchased
his ticket revealed that there
has been palpable fear about
what Abdulazeez’s guardians would do next after the visit of
his uncle, Mr Toju Gbenebichie,
to Egypt Air office. Vanguard sought to speak with
Mr Khaled El Rafie, General
Manager, Lagos, Egypt Air, but
was told that he traveled and
will be back later in the day.
But members of staff of Egypt Air told Vanguard that the
entire organization was very
remorseful about the incident
especially as it involved a 17
year old boy. One of them who begged
Vanguard for anonymity , as
they have not been mandated
to speak on the issue, said it
was actually “a mix up” on the
part of Egypt Air ticket officer, Mr Tony Nzan. The officer also said Mr Nzan
has been very sober after the
incident and he went the extra
mile of trying to arrange an
alternative ticket through a
friend in Turkish Airline to convey Mr Kunle AbdulAzeez to
Ukraine. The officer added that the
arrangement to compensate
AbdulAzeez with alternative
ticket was put on hold after the
visit of his uncle to Egypt Air
office and after “ raising hell”, and threatened to take Egypt
Air to court. Efforts to speak
with Mr Tony Nzan proved
abortive as he insisted that he
has been made to write a
report on what actually happened and this has been
submitted to the General
Manager who now has the
authority to address the issue. NCAA begins investigation The Nigeria Civil Aviation
Authority, NCAA, has begun
investigation into the matter.
The authority is already in
receipt of the official
complaint lodged by Toju Gbenebichie, the uncle of
Joshua. They have asked for the
copies of the ticket, the
boarding pass and other
relevant documents that could
help their case. A letter signed by Abdulmalik
Ifueko for the AGM Flight
Operations/Adjudication Unit
in the Consumer Protection
Directorate yesterday
confirmed this. A source said that among other
things “tearing the Nigerian
passport is a direct affront on
the government and people of
Nigeria and will be taken
seriously depending on the outcome of the investigations.”
www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/horror-egypt-air-wrongly-flew-another-country-tore-passport-locked/#sthash.mPqe3wAO.dpuf

This is too long but it worth reading.
www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/horror-egypt-air-wrongly-flew-another-country-tore-passport-locked/#sthash.mPqe3wAO.dpuf

This is about the same point i keep telling anyone who cares to listen.... The fact that someone work with an airline doesnt mean 1. They are certified 2. That they know the job a whole bunch of them are just fortunate beings.

I have had to put the so called airline staffs through on what to do even on their own GDS always let a certified travel consultant assist with your bookings especially when it has to do with locations not often travelled to.... Such a shame Nigerians believe in what puts them in trouble.

If i were the motemher of the students Chai Egypt air is dead my lawsuit wont match 2020 bunch of crack head bigots

drumma: This is about the same point i keep telling anyone who cares to listen.... The fact that someone work with an airline doesnt mean 1. They are certified 2. That they know the job a whole bunch of them are just fortunate beings.

I have had to put the so called airline staffs through on what to do even on their own GDS always let a certified travel consultant assist with your bookings especially when it has to do with locations not often travelled to.... Such a shame Nigerians believe in what puts them in trouble.

how was the op supposed to know that airlines staff in nigeria are dummb? It is the responsibility of airlines and companies to make sure that those they employed into their organisation to perform specific roles are capable of doing it. So if u go to a restaurant to eat ,you will need someone to verify that the chef is good and knows what he is cooking? They only need to apologise and compensate the victim as soon as possible,people buy airline tickets and make travel plans worldwide all the time without the use of agents,so why should nigeria be any different?.

So sad