Nigerian passengers aboard an Air France flight were left stranded in Lomé, Togo, after their flight was diverted due to bad weather in Abuja.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, raised the alarm on Thursday, February 27, night in a post on his official X account, criticising the airline’s handling of the situation.
“I have just been alerted of a situation involving mostly Nigerian passengers left stranded at Lome, Togo, by Air France,” Keyamo wrote.
“I am told that the flight from Paris bound for Abuja could not land due to the bad weather in Abuja this evening. The flight then diverted to Lome.
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“However, the confounding situation now is that instead of bringing the passengers back to Abuja after the storm subsided, there are plans to leave them in Lome till tomorrow, even when that same flight will return to Abuja tonight to pick up passengers.”
He said he immediately intervened, engaging both his officials and Air France representatives.
“After directing my Director of Air Transport Management to call the country manager of Air France, I also personally called Air France Nigeria a few minutes ago and insisted that those passengers must be brought back to Abuja tonight or be treated in line with best international standards if they must sleep in Lome.”
As of the time of this report, Air France had yet to respond to the minister’s concerns.