Nigeria has averted a diplomatic row with Togo over a viral video where some Nigerian citizens were seen to be maltreated at the Gnassingbe Eyadema International Airport in Lome.
A viral video had circulated on Saturday of the Nigerian transit passengers being brutalised at the Lome Airport.
The Nigerian travellers, who have now been evacuated home after the swift reaction of the nation’s Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama and the Ambassador to Togo, Debo Adesina, had landed on Saturday in Lome via an Ethiopian carrier from New York hoping to connect an ASKY flight to Lagos. But the ASKY carrier was reportedly said to be full.
Upon a protest by the aggrieved transit passengers, the Togolese security personnel at the airport shackled and manhandled some of the protesters, as captured in the viral video.
Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama attention was drawn to the unpleasant situation and had to step in from Istanbul, Turkey where he was attending the third Turkey-Nigeria Partnership Summit as part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s delegation.
Also Nigeria’s Ambassador to Togo, Debo Adesina immediately headed to the airport to take charge of the situation.
He later told journalists that he had worked with the boss of the Togolese civil aviation authority, Dokisime Gnama Latta to provide two flights that airlifted the Nigerian passengers that same night.
An unconfirmed report has it that ASKY Airline, a strategic partner of the Ethiopian Airlines, has been facing challenges in the last three weeks due to traffic volume and low capacity.
Reacting to the incident, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa said that Nigeria was investigating the matter.
Michael Olugbode in Abuja
Follow us on:
