Oyewale Oyesiji, an Osun State-based automobile engineer, has detailed how some officials of Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO), an airport and aviation service providing company, extorted N100,000 from him while he was travelling to South Africa via Air Cote d’Ivoire.
Oyesiji, in a series of posts he made on microblogging platform X, said the incident happened on December 1.
On the 1st of December this year, some staffs of @AirCote Air Cote D’ivoire embarrassed me and tampered with my mental health because I’ve still not gotten over the emotional trauma they put me through. They took advantage of the fact that I was a first time traveller, I’m… https://t.co/rjj6IPabsx pic.twitter.com/qeJxVBhy7G— Wanjohn D-Mecho (@wanjohn1) December 22, 2024
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“On the 1st of December this year, some staff of @AirCote Air Cote D’Ivoire embarrassed me and tampered with my mental health because I’ve still not gotten over the emotional trauma they put me through (sic),” Oyesiji wrote in the post he made on Sunday.
“They took advantage of the fact that I was a first-time traveller. I’m feeling better now but I’ll just love the owners of the airline to look into this matter and do what is right. Their workers extort people and disrespect them before checking in; this shouldn’t be so.
Ogumefu Isaac Gbolahan
“I booked my flight to SA via @AirCote and return flight through Asky. [The] flight was 10:50 am on Sunday, December 1, 2024, and I was already at the airport by 7:15 am.
“There were three men who had “SACHOL” tags on them working with Air Cote d’Ivoire. I saw a name tag of one of them; his name is Ibrahim, and one Mr Ogumefu, his picture is attached below.
“One lady they call Gold checked my passport and cleared me to fly. Then Mr Ogumefu said because I didn’t book @AirCote to return, I couldn’t fly.
Receipts Reflecting the N100,000 Ogumefu Forced Oyesiji to pay to Him
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“I started calling my friends who had travel experiences. They said they had never heard anything like that before (sic). Then I went back to meet Gold, a very young lady, dark in complexion. She (Gold) said I had to pay N1.8 million to be able to fly with Air Cote d’Ivoire and return with them, if not I wouldn’t be able to fly (sic).”
Oyesiji wrote that it was at that point that Ogumefu asked him to pay a N300,000 bribe to him so he could “allow” him to fly.
“He (Ogumefu) told Ibrahim to call the account number for me (sic) and I made a transfer of N40,000 first (to Ogumefu), pleading with him that I was broke and didn’t have much on me (sic). Then this man (Ogumefu) shouted at me and said I was insulting him by sending N40,000.
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“I challenge you people @AirCI_Officiel to go through the cameras at your airline in the airport on the 1st of December, 2024, from 7:30 am till 10:35 am to confirm all these unfortunate events by your workers (sic).
“I was putting on a green native and green cap with “W” crested in front of the cap.
“I begged Ogumefu again and he didn’t agree, then I sent another N60,000 (to him). The receipts are attached below. My friends said I should try and do anything so I wouldn’t miss the flight (sic).
“Then with begging and all, Ogumefu cleared me.”
While Ogumefu was being harassed and extorted at the airport, he had told a few of his friends what was going on. His friends subsequently made posts on X, informing the public of how the engineer was being maltreated by the officials.
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“Then some workers started looking for me at the airport, begging me to please tell my friends to retract what they posted on X,” Oyesiji wrote.
“They were cajoling me to say that nothing happened. I was on a video call with my friends so they captured the moments when they were begging me.
Receipt Reflecting the N100,000 Refund Ogumefu Eventually Made to Oyesiji
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“A friend who was with me all through at the airport witnessed all of these (sic).
“Then they offered to return the money, but I made sure I was already in the plane before texting my friend to go back and give Ogumefu my account details to refund the money.
“I landed SA to see a credit alert of N100,000 from Mr. Ogumefu (sic).”
FIJ sent an email to Air Cote d’Ivoire on Sunday for a reaction to Oyesiji’s X post on Sunday, but it had not been responded to at press time.
A similar email was sent to SAHCO on Tuesday morning. Just like in the case of Air Cote d’Ivoire, however, the email had also not been responded to.
On Wednesday, FIJ was eventually able to speak with Oyesiji on the phone since he made the post on X.
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He reaffirmed the events he stated on the platform and added an incident he did not mention in his post.
“The events happened exactly the way I stated them on my X handle. I stand by the account I gave, word for word,” Oyesiji said.
“As a matter of fact, the officials I mentioned in the post also extorted three other passengers right in my presence. I actually did not mention that in the post.
“Now, this is not about me being refunded by the official who forcefully took money from me.
“It is about consequences. There should be consequences for anyone who feels he can use his position to defraud and humiliate his fellow man in this country.
“If there are no consequences, we won’t have a decent and less fraudulent society.”
The post SAHCO Officials Extorted Osun Engineer. They Refunded N100,000, Begged Him to Quiet Down appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.