Officials of Dana Air have refused to board a woman, Mrs. Oguntoyose Gbemi (pseudonym) because she is a wheelchair user.
Mrs. Oguntoyose has been scheduled to fly on Dana Air 9J 353 Lagos to Abuja by 11:00am today, as explained by eye witnesses at the airport.
Disregarding the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2019, Dana Air said its policy does not have provision for wheelchair users.
Despite that the passenger was travelling with the assistance of her sister, she was clearly denied access to board the flight while other passengers proceeded with the trip to Abuja.
Officials of Dana Air insisted that the flight fee would be refunded as the airline cannot convey her because of her disability.
The passenger who explained that was not her first time of travelling by air expressed shock over the policy of Dana Air which is discriminatory.
A fellow passenger and former President, National Association of the Blind, David Okon who shared the video with BONews Service lamented over the ‘irresponsible policy’ which lacks respect for human dignity.
Okon called for the full implementation of the National Disability Act with the aim of addressing unfavorable policies which further discriminates against persons with disabilities in the country.
Dana Air was in 2019 awarded as the winner of the Disability Inclusion champion Transportation Sector by Project Enable.
Addendum –
Responding to this, Dana Air in a tweet post confirmed that his staff were in the video but the passenger was allowed to fly from Lagos to Port Harcourt after the initial discriminatory acts against her because of her disability.
Unfortunately, the staff in the video you posted is our Lagos Duty Manager and this incident happened in Lagos today. How did Abuja come into this? the passenger in the wheelchair flew to Ph with us today. Your reporter should know better
— Dana Airlines Ltd. (@DanaAir) December 13, 2020
When asked by a twittter user if Dana Air will deny the video, it responded that “The video is clear and the point is that the said passenger went on the flight. Thank you”
The video is clear and the point is that the said passenger went on the flight. Thank you
— Dana Airlines Ltd. (@DanaAir) December 13, 2020
While Dana Air insisted that its action is not discriminatory, a twitter user, @nubianhottie explained that the passenger shouldn’t have been denied in the first instance, as seen in the video.
Was the passenger at any point told that she couldn’t fly because of her wheelchair? It doesn’t matter if she eventually flew your airline to port Harcourt, if your staff were discriminatory in accommodating her disability because she was on a wheelchair.
— Tsema #StopPoliceBrutality (@nubianhottie) December 14, 2020