Lagos - British Airways appears to be losing the battle to fight the will of the Nigerian people fighting it either to recover their lost luggages or to enforce their fundamental human rights against maltreatment or negligence by the airline. The airline has been ordered by a Federal High Court in Lagos to pay ₤9, 000 (N2.1 million) to a Nigerian passenger, Mr. Emeka Ngige (SAN), being value of the contents of his luggage lost in transit aboard the airways while returning to Lagos from London.

This garnishee order was made by Justice Ibrahim Auta while dismissing the application brought by British Airways asking the court to stay the execution of the court’s earlier judgment made in June 26, 2007 by Justice Oyindamola Olomojobi directing the airline to pay ₤9,000 to Ngige as judgment sum for the value of the contents of his suitcase lost by officials of the airline.

By this order, the airline is ordered to go and respect the Nigerian laws by complying with the judgment of a Federal High Court of Nigeria, which has directed it to pay the judgment sum to the Nigerian passenger for negligence.

In that same judgment made by Justice Olomojobi, she also ordered BA (British Airways) to pay the sum of N10, 000 to Ngige to offset the inconveniences he suffered and the cost of prosecuting the case against the airline.

The claimant (Ngige) in the suit filed in 1999 had contended that he on September 19, 1998 bought an air ticket from Lagos to London and back but on arrival back to Lagos from London on board the airline’s flight No. BA2075, he could not find one of his three suitcases.

The issue of the missing suitcase, he further claimed was raised by him with the staff of the airline who promised him the luggage would arrive the following day as he was asked to fill a form in which he described the contents of the luggage to enable them track the luggage.

The suit, according to Ngige, was instituted when the airline refused to release the luggage to him and willfully withheld the luggage and instead kept advising him to collect a compensation to which he will be paid $120 dollars instead of 9,000 pounds said to be the actual value of the items in his luggage.

In the suit, he said, he sought a court order directing BA to deliver the suitcase with its contents or in the alternative, pay the sum of ₤9,000 being the rough estimate of the value of the said suitcase and its contents and any other sum of money as may be determined by the court as being reasonable and fair value of the inconveniences suffered by him.

In his defense, British Airways called no witness but argued that it took all necessary steps to locate the plaintiff luggage but to no avail.

In another development, a Nigerian, Ayo Omotade suing along with the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Mr. Olisa Agbokoba (SAN) and the association, has brought a suit against the airline to enforce his fundamental human right for being beaten, arrested, handcuffed and detained for several hours by the British Police aboard the airline.

His offense, according to his affidavit, was that he pleaded with the colonial police officers not to kill another Nigerian who was screaming in agony on board the aircraft because he was being deported.

The deportee, according to Omotade, was being tormented as his captors who were almost suffocating him to death in manacles chained him down.

His wailing, he further complained, attracted sympathy from him and other passengers prompting him to question the treatment being meted to the deportee.

Consequently he said, he was dragged from the aircraft by the officers and made to sit on the floor at the airport terminal after being handcuffed and slammed on the wall.

According to him, as stated in his affidavit, he was prevented from traveling with the aircraft, which he had already boarded to attend his brother’s wedding.

No date has been fixed by the court to hear this matter.

Source: The Guardian

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