Published 28th Mar, 2024

By Abimbola Abatta

A barrage of public outrage was aimed at the Nigerian branch of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), a global fast-food restaurant chain, on Wednesday after Adebola Daniel, a Nigerian living with a disability, narrated how he was humiliated at the restaurant.

Daniel experienced what he called “vile discrimination” when he, alongside his wife and siblings, went to a KFC restaurant at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport while waiting for their flight.

Upon entering the restaurant, a female manager said wheelchairs were prohibited and insisted that Daniel leave. Daniel and his family left out of anger after the shocking and degrading episode at KFC.

“She [the manager] refused to listen to reason and stood her ground that at the KFC, Murtala Muhammed branch, wheelchairs and wheelchair users of all shapes and sizes were not permitted on the premises and we should leave immediately,” Daniel wrote on X on Wednesday.

FIJ has found that KFC has a history of discrimination against wheelchair users and other people with disabilities, even in other countries. This report examines four instances of discrimination between 2016 and 2021.

2016: REVIEW SAYS WHEELERS FACE MANY OBSTACLES AT A KFC OUTLET IN CANADA

In a review made in July 2016, Dave E. revealed that there were many obstacles for wheelchair users at the KFC outlet on Chemong Road, Ontario, Canada.

He wrote: “This Kentucky Fried Chicken Restaurant has many obstacles for wheelchair users. The first obstacle is: the only wheelchair ramp is quite often blocked by vehicles with permits, so if you are coming off the sidewalk, if the disabled permit driver has not squeezed over, you cannot access the doors. Second, no automated doors, so you have to struggle to open the heavy doors and then when in the building, there is a second set of glass doors to try to work around while maneuvering your chair plus they are heavy for any weakened person to push open. I have not accessed their restrooms but if the doors are an indication, try any alternative restaurant on Chemong Road.”

2018: DEAF WOMAN FELT MOCKED AT KFC IN MISSISSIPPI

Following an incident in which a deaf woman identified as Bobbie Cole felt employees at a KFC facility in Mississippi were making fun of her in 2018, the management company of 270 KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell agreed to provide sensitivity training at those outlets.

Although Cole was deaf, she could read lips, according to The Associated Press. The woman claimed that KFC employees mocked her while she was trying to order food at a drive-thru.

2019: KFC MADE UK-BASED PERSON WITH DISABILITY ‘FEEL LESS IMPORTANT’

Wayne Chivers, who was 52 as of 2019 when he accused a KFC store in Great Yarmouth of ignoring disabled people, said the restaurant made him feel less important.

This report by the UK-based Eastern Daily Press revealed that Chivers had not been able to use the restaurant for five years because customers had to use steps to get into the restaurant, thus making it inaccessible to wheelchair users like him.

He voiced his frustration in 2019 after repeated attempts to get the restaurant to become wheelchair-friendly were shut down for years.

In response, a spokesperson for KFC said: “We always aim to make our restaurants easily accessible to everyone and try to remove any barriers which might prevent guests being able to visit us. Unfortunately, the design of our Regent Road restaurant means it is not safe for us to fit a wheelchair ramp.”

2021: WOMAN WITH DISABILITY INITIALLY REFUSED SERVICE

Natalya Gilder, a person with a disability, claimed she was initially refused service at a KFC drive-thru because she was on a mobility scooter in 2021.

The UK-based Mirror reported that Gilder had asthma and used a mobility scooter because she could not walk.

Gilder, who labelled the incident “disability discrimination”, said she was eventually attended to after she asked to speak to the outlet’s manager.

Meanwhile, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has shut down the KFC outlet at the Lagos airport over the recent incident.

A statement issued on Thursday revealed that FAAN closed the facility in line with Part C, Section 55 of General Provisions on Discrimination, Lagos State Law on People With Special Needs, which states: “A person shall not deprive another person of access to any place, vehicle or facility that members of the public are entitled to enter or use on the basis of the disability of that person”.

Also, KFC Nigeria revealed that it had embarked on efforts to address the situation. “In response, we are urgently implementing sensitivity training for all our employees. This incident is not reflective of our standards, and we will act swiftly to rectify it,” the restaurant wrote on X on Thursday.

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