The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has expressed concern over the treatment of Nigerian passengers left stranded in Lomé, Togo, after an Air France flight from Paris to Abuja was diverted due to adverse weather conditions.
In a statement posted on his official X account on Thursday night, Keyamo revealed that the flight was unable to land in Abuja and was rerouted to Lomé.
However, he criticized Air France’s handling of the situation, particularly its failure to properly manage and communicate with the affected passengers, the majority of whom were Nigerian nationals.
Keyamo assured that his ministry is monitoring the situation closely and emphasized the importance of airlines treating passengers with dignity and respect, especially in cases of operational disruptions.
“The flight then diverted to Lome. However, the confounding situation now is that instead of bringing the passengers back to Abuja after the storm subsided, there are plans to leave them in Lome till tomorrow, even when that same flight will return to Abuja tonight to pick up passengers.”
Keyamo also disclosed that he immediately took action to address the issue, engaging both his officials and the airline’s representatives.
“After directing my Director of Air Transport management to call the country manager of Air France, I also personally called Air France Nigeria a few minutes ago and insisted that those passengers must be brought back to Abuja tonight or be treated in line with best international standards if they must sleep in Lome.”