… despite being identified by her son
Mr Effiong Udoka a resident in Benin has demanded for an unreserved apology, ticket refund over the maltreatment meted to his octogenarian mother at Uyo airport on 17th, December, 2024 by Ibom Air officials.
Mr Udoka in a chat with TheNewsGuru.com, TNG narrated the ugly incident at Uyo Airport, how the officials delayed the aged lady over a missing alphabet in her identity card.
His younger brother who had a joint ticket with his mother despite identifying her as his mother they still refused her to board the flight to Abuja, until a fresh ticket was purchased.
According to Mr Udoka, he was forced to purchase a fresh ticket for the senior citizen to enable her board.
He said: “What further angered me was that after I requested for a refund I was simply told to wait for another four weeks.
“For God’s sake what has happened to morality in Nigeria that we no longer have regards for senior citizens, my mother does not have a job and because her ID card bears Atim instead of Matim, she was rejected.
In a letter dated December 31 and sent via mail to Ibom Air, Udoka expressed his bitterness.
Read him:
” I am pained by the unprofessional conduct, disrespect and humiliation meted out to my almost 80yrs old mother at Uyo airport on 17th December 2024 by the checkin officials of Ibom Air at Uyo airport.
“I had bought an Ibom Air Ticket with PNR 12ZPN8 for my mother to travel to Abuja for the Yuletide season in the company of her last son to provide her support.
“At the checkin counter, the official bluntly refused to check her in flight No. QI-522 because letter “M” was erroneously omitted in her first name printed on her voter’s card. My mother’s name is Matim, but INEC printed her first name as Atim on her voter’s card.
‘My telephone conversation and appeal to the official fell on deaf ears as she rebuffed and hung off the phone. My mother’s surname was correct, there was no denial of her face on the voter’s card she presented. My Junior brother (her last son) accompanying her bears the same surname as her’s.
“I am an Akwa Ibom son, I know that Atim and Matim are used interchangeably. I know that respect to aged persons permeates our culture. I had thought Ibom Air shares this same well rooted culture.
“I was then forced to buy a new ticket with her first name as Atim and apply for a refund of the previous ticket, else my aged mother will not be allowed to board the flight.
“Only if I knew, I would have sought an alternative to Ibom Air as I was planning the Yuletide celebration for my aged mother.
“In addition to refunding my money completely, I am demanding an apology for the humiliation meted out to my mother by Ibom Air officials at Uyo airport on 17th December 2024.