Samuel Jegede, a Maiduguri resident, has accused Arik air, a Nigerian airline, of withholding his N72,000 following an arbitrary cancellation of his flight.

Samuel said that he had booked the flight on May 30 ahead of his travel from Lagos to Maiduguri on June 20 for an assignment. 

Samuel said the flight was scheduled to have a stopover in Abuja before the onward flight to Maiduguri but the airline cancelled the second phase of the flight on June 9, forcing him to book with another airline for his Abuja-Maiduguri trip.

“They cancelled the Maiduguri-Abuja first leg of the flight, as there is always a stopover in Abuja. This prompted me to book another flight with Air Max from Abuja to Maiduguri with the thought that the Maiduguri-Abuja flight was still active,” he said.

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Samuel’s thought turned out inaccurate when, on June 12, Arik Air also cancelled the Lagos-Abuja phase of his return flight.

The Maiduguri man, who works as a communication officer at a non-governmental agency, said he had taken the measure of booking the flight the way he did for security reasons.

“The cancellation of the flight was without notice, and it was the only option I could take for security reasons. I could not take the risk of road travel, especially toward that part of the country,” he said.

“The situation led me to undergo another trouble of booking another flight. And to worsen it for me, it was a period I had little on me. It was the money I budgeted for my family during work travels,” Samuel told FIJ.

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Samuel further explained that his efforts to get a refund for the canceled flight had since been futile.

“I reached out to them on June 12 to request a refund, and they sent me a form to fill, which I did and returned the same day. Ever since then, I have not heard from them. I even called and mailed, but I’ve only got automated responses,” he said.

On Thursday, FIJ contacted Ayo Adebanji, head, communication unit of the airline, for comments on the matter, but he had not responded at press time.