This post is in response to the Fiasco in which several Nigerians were booted off a plane as a deportation was taking place. Original article: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstorie
Its a sad thing (not unlike several other issues in this day and age).
Begin rant:
Deportation is oft a result of on having committed a crime, and resistance comes somewhat naturally. He should have followed the eleventh commandment (never get caught). However, if the "jig is up", so to speak, resistance is pretty much futile. the individual should have stayed put and nothing else woulda happened (best imaginable situation). Obviously, it didn't go down this way.
I wont sugarcoat the issue. Nigerians are stereotyped by British airline staff as those rowdy individuals who always pack too much luggage, cant wait in line, and are almost always of disorderly conduct, be it pre-flight, mid-flight or post flight. And there is never smoke without fire.
Nigerians also have this mindset of being "opposed" to the airline staff in some way (in no small part due to being given aforementioned stereotypes), almost always backing up their fellow peoples unless they are outright wrong. And, being Nigerians, the intervention is almost always "ruff and tumble" (I told u, no sugarcoating). However, I still believe that the pilot's course of action would have been completely different had the passengers been British citizens.
As for the interfering “busy body”, it is human nature to avoid conflict whenever one can (unless you are one twisted individual). However, when dealing with the “law”, things are completely different. Any move on your part can get you slapped with an “obstruction of justice” charge, and the ball is almost always in their court. In my opinion, unless you physically need to take action (if there is blatant abuse of authority on the part of the law enforcers), its best to hide your feelings (however righteous they may seem). As I said before, if he’s being deported, he probably did something wrong. If the law enforcers need to use force, I’m guessing the criminal isn’t going quietly. I do not know if the passengers were informed that there would be a deportation taking place. I believe this would have been the best course of action: A message informing the passengers of the scheduled deportation and a strict no interference policy. However, if the interference from Mr. Omotade was just verbal, his arrest is in no way justified. It is a gross misconduct on the part of the British constables and may be actionable in a court of law. Then again, I don't know if the officers were influenced by the BA staff to arrest Mr. Omotade. In that case, the blame on the officers may be lessened.
As for the actions of the Pilot, I cannot base judgment on this alone. I do not know if he issued a warning to the passengers or if he issued an immediate unloading of the aircraft.
In a nutshell, this just goes down as another incident in the life which could have been completely prevented. Had the offending individual alone been removed, it would have all ended. Better yet, give him a tranquilizer and take him in quietly (damn right I endorse use of sedatives). I know the words we all want to hear in this argument: racism, stereotypes, abuse of power, etc. These may or may not have influenced this situation (who am I kiddin?), but all in all, it is a disgrace to our status, not as Nigerians, but as human beings. Such things should not happen, but my goodness, when don’t they?
End rant…
