Anger, condemnation as Rwandair dumps Nigerians’ luggage in Dubai

Scores of Nigerian passengers on Rwandair flight to Lagos on Thursday were left in shock after they discovered that the airline had dropped their luggage in Dubai without their knowledge.

The passengers were left in frustration following the absence of any official of the Rwandan national carrier to offer any explanation on why their pieces of luggage were not loaded in Dubai after they were dully checked and tagged without questioning.

Trouble started for the Nigerian passengers on Rwandair flight WB 202 from Kigali to Lagos at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, after they had waited endlessly for their luggage at the airport’s conveyor belt.

An official of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria however confirmed their fears when he told them that there were no more bags on the flight for loading to the belt.

“These are the bags on Rwandair flight. We don’t have any other bags coming,” said the official, whose name could not be ascertained.

A female passenger, who had boarded the airline’s flight WB 305 from Dubai to Kigali on Thursday morning, who simply gave her name as Joyce, lamented that the keys to her house were in one of her four bags that were not loaded.

“How can I get in now? The keys to my house are in one of the bags. This is very unfair and unfortunate. Things are usually like this when it comes to Nigeria,” she said before another official of FAAN took her up on her perceived attack.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, asked the distressed lady whether Nigerian officials loaded the luggage in Dubai.

“When you were going to Dubai, you got your luggage in Dubai; Nigerian officials loaded that. The ones you cannot get here now, officials in the United Arab Emirates loaded them, not Nigerian officials. So, you cannot blame Nigerians for that; blame the airline,” said the official.

Another lady, who also did not want to be named, said she was on her way to Port Harcourt, wondering how and when she would get her luggage and how she would put up in Lagos before her journey to the Rivers State capital.

A male passenger on the flight also said, “I have two bags and neither of the two is here. My house key is in one of them because I never envisaged something like this would happen.”

One of the FAAN officials believed the luggage could arrive on the Rwandair next flight to Lagos on Friday afternoon.Punch