Nigeria’s President Umaru Yar’Adua has directed the Minister of State for Transportation (Aviation), Felix Hyatt, to investigate reports of the maltreatment of Nigerian passengers by foreign airlines. The President also directed the Minister to officially notify all foreign airlines operating in the country that the government would no longer tolerate the maltreatment of Nigerian passengers aboard their aircraft. The directive came in the wake of reports that the British Airways ordered over 100 Nigerians off its London-Lagos flight because some of them protested the maltreatment of a Nigerian who was being deported 27 March 2008. Yar’Adua asked the Minister to furnish him with details of the incident, which has generated widespread anger in Nigeria. The opposition Action Congress (AC) recently called on the federal government to put a stop to the maltreatment of Nigerians by foreign airlines and governments.
