Dozens of Nigerian passengers on an Air France flight from Paris to Abuja were left stranded in Lomé, Togo, after the flight was diverted due to adverse weather conditions.
Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, on Thursday, expressed concern over the airline’s handling of the situation.
Keyamo, in a statement on his X handle, disclosed that he personally contacted Air France Nigeria and directed the Director of Air Transport Management to engage with the airline’s country manager.
He insisted that the stranded passengers must either be transported back to Abuja the same night or be accommodated under international aviation standards if forced to stay in Lomé.
The minister lamented that while the flight had initially diverted for safety reasons, it was unacceptable that the airline planned to keep the passengers in Togo until the following day—despite the same aircraft returning to Abuja that night to pick up new passengers.
He said, “I have just been alerted of a situation involving mostly Nigerian passengers left stranded at Lome, Togo, by @airfrance. 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. 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 passengers.
“After directing my Director of Air Transport management to call the country Manager of @airfrance, I also personally called @AirFranceNG 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.”
