Oluwayemisi Adekunle, a branding expert, has narrated how a staff member of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) treated her with contempt and disdain at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos for being a physically challenged person.

The branding expert told FIJ that she had been subjected to inhumane treatments from FAAN officials several times but had not got such degrading treatments in other countries.

Adekunle said that when she got to the airport on Wednesday, she remained in the aircraft for another 35 minutes for a FAAN staffer to bring a wheelchair for her to continue her journey.

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She said when the staffer brought the wheelchair, it was completely covered in dust and she refused to sit on it until the staffer cleaned it with tissue paper.

After cleaning the seat, she said, the female staffer took her to the car pack and then asked her to sit somewhere else because she was in a hurry to go back to the airport.

“By then the lady was visibly angry,” Adekunle told FIJ. “I kept telling her I needed to use the restroom but got no response. She did not even wait for my driver to come before she left. My point is, why do we always feel as if people with disabilities (PWDs) have no voice?”

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“This is always going on and on. Their usual excuse is that they are never informed that a PWD is on a flight.”

“Like every other person, people with disabilities deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. It will be good if these handlers have a sense of disability awareness and etiquette in mind so that the person with a disability doesn’t feel disrespected in any way.”

When FIJ called FAAN via the phone numbers on its website for comments on the matter, there was no response. The body has also not responded to a text message at press time.

In Nigeria, the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and imposes sanctions, including fines and prison sentences, on those who contravene it.

Also, section 34 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides for the dignity of human beings, and this provision covers persons with disabilities.