BY LINUS CHIBUIKE
DEPUTY National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, Dr. Chike Okogwu, has sued Dana Air for alleged unlawful infringement of his fundamental human rights on December 20, 2020.
Okogu, a passenger with disability, who was billed to fly with the airline on December 20, but could not, as a result of what he described as a discriminatory policy of Dana Air, has also given the airline seven days ultimatum to pay N1billion to him as damages.
He is demanding the said sum, including an apology in three national newspapers, from the airline for the violation of his rights and the unprofessional conduct of Dana Air, which he said, had led to worsening health condition for him.
These were contained in a letter, titled, “Discriminatory and unprofessional conduct of Dana airlines against Dr Chike Churchill Okogwu”, by the passenger’s solicitor, Wahab Egbewole & Co.
The letter, dated January 11, 2021, and made available to THE POINT, faulted the airline’s position that wheelchair passengers could not fly at night because the airline had itself rescheduled the said flight to 9:15pm.
“We are reliably informed by our client that on December 17, 2020, he booked two business class tickets for his carer and himself for a flight from Abuja to Lagos scheduled for Sunday, December 20, 2020. However, in the morning of the scheduled flight, he received an email from Dana Air notifying him of a rescheduling of the flight to 9:15 pm on the same day,” it said.
Though, in a press statement by Dana in December, the airline had described the passenger’s conduct as violent, Okogwu’s lawyer refuted the claims, adding that Dana Air forced the 9.15pm flight time on his client, who did not plan to travel at night.
“As a result of the conduct of Dana Air on 20th December, 2020, our client went through the most harrowing and excruciating experience, which worsened his already fragile health condition, leading to his admission in the hospital for treatment,” the letter noted.
The policy of not carrying wheelchair passengers was not communicated to the passenger, when his boarding pass was issued, it added.
The passenger said the duty manager of the airline also made matters worse.
“Though the duty manager asked our client to return the next day by 7pm in a very rude manner, she failed to give further assurance whether this would not happen again, and the demand by our client to be accommodated for the night in a hotel, in line with Nigerian Civil Aviation Authorities regulations, was bluntly turned down,” the letter read.
“Our client views the conduct of the duty manager as not only unprofessional, unconscionable but also a violation of his rights to freedom,” it added.
Spokesperson for Dana, Kingsley Ezenwa, could not be reached as of the time of filing this report.
