I read the news frequently and use technology to keep track of information that is of interest to me. A few recent news reports involving British Airways have stuck out in my mind and are troubling to me. Let me share them with you in the hope that it will help me through.
News Report 1: THE DEPORTEE'S IDENTITY REVEALED
Many readers are familiar with the recent Brutish Airways incident that was sparked when a passenger asked 5 British officials to unshackle a deportee. This resulted in 136 Nigerian passengers being thrown off the flight by the pilot. It now appears that the deportee was Augustine Eme, an activist supporting an independent Biafra. Mr. Eme's comments while being deported of "I go die" were apparently quite justified as it has now been revealed that his brother was killed and his wife and children are now missing.
Responding to complaints from Hindu passengers, British Airways has pulled beef from its menu. BA explained that it can only have 2 choices on its flights and as such beef and pork would not be offered on flights. Chicken and Fish will become standard on all BA flights because they do not present religious restrictions to any of its passengers.
News report 3: HEADHUNTERS SEEKING EXECUTIVES FOR BA
There are 2 new openings at Brutish Airways. The carrier is now looking for replacements for the former Customer Services and Operations Services Executives who left the company "in the wake of the Terminal 5 fiasco..." The news report made absolutely no mention of the recent Nigerian incident being a contributing factor to the dismissal of the now former BA executives.
WHY IS THIS BOTHERSOME TO ME?
EME: Although many may find MASSOB to be an annoying organization, their members, such as Eme, are still human beings and should not be treated like animals. Something tells me he did not need to be escorted unto the plane by 5 officials and that there was absolutely no need for him to be shackled. Eme was should technically have been considered a political refugee and should have been protected under British law. I am unaware as to why that wasn't the case, but am on the hunt to understand why. Of most significance to me, is where Mr. Augustine Eme is right now and if he is in Nigerian custody, how is he being treated?
BEEF: Clearly, Hindu customers are of great importance to BA for it to completely remove beef from its menu. What a great sign of respect. If only BA could have shown an ounce of that same respect to Nigerians when it offered its recent 'apology'.
HEADHUNTERS: What a shame that the news story made absolutely no mention of the Nigerian incident, nor the fact that over 4000 people have signed the petition. This, in my humble opinion, is simply a way to silence Nigerians and others who spoke out against the constant disrespectful treatment meted out by the Brutes. Nonetheless, the boycott is still on and no, May 15th is the day from which it officially begins. My family just bought a ticket from Abuja to Baltimore Washington Airport. We specifically rejected the British Airways ticket. That was easy to do given my stance on the recent Brutish Airways ticket and the fact that it did not compare to price of the KLM ticket.
I can only hope that the Nigerian government is truly committed to protecting the rights of its citizens and will not allow the Brutish Airways incident to simply 'die down' and go away. If, indeed, the Nigerian government is committed to its citizens, we should here some update of its talk with BA officials and if there are no updates to provide, I daresay that i am beginning to lean with others who have publicly called for the removal of BA's staff from Nigeria and a blockade on all BA flights in Nigerian airspace. I cannot believe that I would ever look to the former dictator Abacha's regime for an example of a positive act, but in light of what seems to be continued disrespect from Brutish Airways, I daresay that a repeat of Abacha's 14 month ban on the airline would do them some good.
Further Reading:
- Nigerians, 'Brutish' Airways & Respect Pt. 1
- Nigerians, 'Brutish' Airways & Respect Pt 2
- Finally, Some Concrete Nigerian 'Action' on Brutish Airways & BASSA
- "Casual Racism" at Brutish Airways?

15 Curiosities. Add Yours.:
was the Nigerian incident a contributing factor to the BA executives removal? I arrived London the day T5 was opened and by the next day, everybody was already calling for the heads of the executives. I can't remember if the Nigerian incident had already occured or if people had become aware of it. I heard of it after i returned to the States....
You're right, Mr Eme is a human being and should be treated decently
hey man...i'm back
i dont believe a blockade would ever be implemented. you have to remember that 'old' foreign firms in naija such as ba indulge in very sharp practices like bribing our ministers, so strike that.
the best cause of action is a simple boycott - voting with our wallets. i bet you some morons are still flying ba, some may even be blog contributors.
heard about the BA thingy, read an article in the paper someone was asking for a boycott, I support that plus shouldnt they be apologising?
This BA issue upsets me no be small. But Jinta made me smile, he actually called people morons,Ah, Gentleman Jinta. I guess we are all angry. I am frankly more angry at some Nigerians who believe Nigerians deserved the treatment.
I agree with Jinta, a blockade won't ever be implemented, and I doubt the government will say more on the matter, they must have been bribed already.
The change can only be implemented by us. As for me and my household, we will no longer fly BA.
Meanwhile did you get my mail?
yep, i agree with jinta and for the love of me...but i also saw somewhere that a commenter said that we should also ban virgin atlantic...what happened there?..please let me know as i would like to start planning a trip home this december and need to know which airlines to avoid;)...
LOL..Brutish Airways...I like the caption..heard about the nonsense myself...the airline still should offer an apology to Nigerians...the govt needs to demand that it...14 month ban? lets try 40 months! These jerks make a lot of money from Nigerians and what do we get for it?
First time here. It's always good for me to read a Nigerian blog whose writer takes a serious and critical view of the world. Thank you for that.
At any rate, I am in the US (east coast) and have only flown BA once and didn't like it then. Will definitely be following the news on Mr. Eme closely.
I also noticed that the Nigerian issue was not mentioned. That should increase our determination to get an appology.
thanks for checking up on me! just finished my exams today!
thanks for this brutish articles, the most annoying thing is hearing Nigerians saying rubbish about how he
mr omotade shouldn't have spoken out even though there have been several cases of deportee suffocating to death/coma.
if the don't want to boycott brutish they should just walk along!!
Lets hope people come through...I think it will be a huge step for Nigerians if we can actually make an impact here. Maybe then, more people would understand the need for us to speak up at the home front too.
Never flown B.A but i read a response on Dele Momodu's column on This Day online from a B.A executive who is Nigerian and also a letter written by the said man that was bundled out of the flight for asking why the deportee was being man handled. Here's the link.
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=111023
while i commend ur efforts as well as afrobeat's, but i can't seem to comprehend why none of the people involved has yet to file a lawsuit!
@webround
the firing was due to project failure.
Airlines tickets are really unpredictable.Can you give me some details about cheap first class airline tickets .As i have seen Sometimes the prices are so high and sometimes we get it for a cheap deal. Last month i booked a few tickets for a very high price even though when I booked 2 months in advance. Again, one of my friend booked his ticket in the same flight on the same date and he got it at a cheaper price. i was so surprised. You know, booking flight tickets is just like gambling. What do you say?
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