The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), on Friday, accused Qatar Airways of allegedly detaining a Nigerian passenger for 18 hours over false allegations of sexually assaulting a cabin crew.
Speaking on his X handle, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, said a female cabin crew member alleged that while she was wheeling a passenger during boarding for a flight from Lagos to the United States via Doha, a Nigerian male passenger who was travelling with his wife had touched her butt.
According to Achimugu, the cabin crew did not report the incident in Lagos but on arrival in Doha, where the passenger was arrested and detained for about 18 hours.
He said the airline further refused to fly him to his final destination as the passenger was forced to buy tickets on another airline and proceed at great financial and reputational cost.
“The airline Qatar Airways has carried on as though Nigerian passengers and the NCAA are not deserving of their respect, dignified treatment, and compliance with Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023. This will be brought to a stop immediately.
“A member of this airline’s cabin crew claimed that, while she was wheeling a passenger during boarding for a flight from Lagos to the US via Doha, a male passenger who was travelling with his wife had touched her butt.
“She did not report this incident in Lagos. On arrival in Doha, she made an allegation against this passenger, leading to his arrest and detention for about eighteen hours.
“During the period, his wife suffered mental, physical, and psychological trauma without any form of care. She wondered how her husband could have committed such a despicable infraction given that she was with him throughout the boarding process.”
The NCAA spokesman, who said the passenger was forced to sign a document written in Arabic, disclosed that the airline’s country manager had refused to honour the authorities’ invitation.
“The authorities in Doha made the man pay a hefty fine and forced him to sign a document written ONLY in Arabic! Desperate for freedom to proceed on his journey to the US, the passenger signed a document whose contents he did not understand.
“Despite this, the airline refused to fly him to his final destination. He had to buy tickets on another airline and proceed at great financial and reputational cost. Upon invitation by the NCAA, the airline’s country manager, who has a penchant for evading meetings with the NCAA, only sent his subordinates to attend.
“However, the NCAA decided on that matter along with others. As has become typical of Qatar Airways, they failed to comply with all the determinations made from that meeting. They have also failed to treat subsequent complaints from other passengers escalated to them by the CAA, including a total silence upon receipt of a letter of investigation (LOI) sent to them by the NCAA. This behaviour stops now.
“I understand that some countries do not have advanced aviation consumer protection regulations like Nigeria does. In certain cases, some countries don’t even have any. This creates a situation where airlines operating out of those countries (mostly national carriers) act with disdain towards consumer protection enforcement in Nigeria.
“This is not a situation that we would accept here. It is against the law for ANY airline not to respond to the NCAA. It is against the law to provide false information to the NCAA. It is against the law to fail to comply with the provisions of Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023.
“When BASAs are signed, they must be respected by both parties. Every airline is expected to, upon approval to operate in Nigeria, understand and comply with consumer protection regulations.
“To continue to treat our laws with contempt while respecting regulations across Europe and elsewhere is not ideal and must be brought to a complete and final stop.
“This department protects the airlines as much as it protects passengers. The DGCA, Captain Chris Najomo, has never minced words about his position on consumer protection issues, and we will apply appropriate and stiff penalties against the airlines that, in perpetuity.
“In the same vein, Royal Air Maroc and Saudi Air have also been properly advised about certain infractions and, failing to comply with the determinations of the CAA, will be heavily sanctioned.”
