“I travelled on board Turkish airlines flight number TK 0626 from Lagos to Istanbul on April 4, 2023 en-route to London Heathrow where I spent six days in Istanbul before proceeding to London.
“The checking formalities and boarding at Lagos Airport was normal but on arrival in Istanbul I discovered the handlers have damaged my scooter (wheelchair) which is my only means of mobility. I complained to the people in charge at the airport and they did nothing. As a matter of fact, it was treated with levity. I decided to take it in my stride as I had a tight schedule in Istanbul before heading to London. I had to get my agent there to assist me get someone to fix it at my own cost and inconvenience so my movement will be easy and affected my schedules for the first two days as I could not perform any task without my scooter.
“After my stay in London, I boarded same Turkish Airlines flight TK 1984 on April 26, 2023 back to Istanbul with a connection to Lagos, Nigeria on a long layover in Istanbul (about nine hours). There was no provisions for refreshments or anything of comfort for those long hours lay over.
“However, boarding the connecting flight TK 0625 to Lagos, Nigeria on April 27, 2023 at the scheduled departure time of 14:15, the drama started and the whole structure and attitude of the personnel was far different going to Lagos than the same flight to London. I was put on the in-flight wheelchair and being wheeled to my seat. The isle was quite narrow, therefore the wheelchair could not navigate effectively. I was puzzled why they use a large in-flight wheelchair for a narrow body aircraft.
I requested for the in-flight supervisor’s attention and when she got to me she just lost all manner of professionalism and said “throw her out of the plane and call me the police.” I became instantly stressed and wondered if I would have been treated this way like trash if I wasn’t disabled and a wheelchair user, and also wondered if it was because I was a Lagos-bound passenger as this will not happen on a flight to Europe or the USA.”
This was the sad experience suffered by a Nigerian traveller, Margaret Adeyileka in the hands of Turkish Airline after paying her full fare.
From the narrative of the passenger, it was obvious that the airline discriminated against her for many reasons ranging from her physical challenge to her colour and above all, her nationality.
Sadly, Turkish Airline, which enjoys seamless operations into Nigeria, is however notorious for this irresponsible attitude towards Nigerians.
It will be recalled how the same airline had in 2017 abandoned 22 Nigerian pupils and their instructors who were Nigerian delegates to the United States for a robot competition at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport for almost 48 hours while in 2019, this same airline was found guilty of maltreating its Nigerian passengers who complained that they were flown back home with their luggage left behind in Istanbul.
Therefore, the latest bad treatment meted out to this female Nigerian passenger who has physical challenge is the height of such shenanigans and total disregard towards Nigerian passengers without whose patronage they cannot survive on the route.
Apart from Turkish Airlines, there are many other foreign carriers operating into Nigeria that have the penchant for this uncouth attitude towards Nigerians as witnessed in the way they single out Nigerian passengers for humiliation and embarrassment at the slightest provocation.
Treating a physically challenged passenger with disdain and the language used by the so-called supervisor of the flight smacks of unprofessionalism and bad mannerisms and therefore, should not be taken lightly by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
There is an urgent need for the authority to probe the latest misdemeanor of the airline for the purpose of clipping its wings and that of other guilty airlines.
Obviously, many of these foreign airlines are acting a script of hostility towards Nigerian passengers who coincidentally contribute largely to their profitability and sustainability.
The continuous maltreatment of Nigerians by the foreign carriers is however indirectly encouraged by the laxity on the part of the Nigerian aviation authorities whenever such issues occur.
The Turkish Airlines should not be allowed to get away with the bad treatment meted to the physically challenged passenger. Therefore, the airlines should be given the stern warning and at the same time made to compensate her. After all, customers are always right.
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