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| Image: Facebook |
Nigerian fashion designer and entrepreneur Toyin Lawani has accused British Airways staff at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana, of assault, intimidation, and discriminatory treatment while she tried to board a flight to the United Kingdom.
Lawani, who lives with a degenerative spine condition and uses a walking stick and wheelchair assistance, said the incident occurred during her scheduled 9:10 p.m. flight, despite completing online check-in. She claimed that staff threatened to deny her boarding unless she deleted a video recording taken on her phone.
In a video circulating on social media, Lawani is seen confronting airline personnel over the threats. She explained that she arrived at the check-in counter around 7:40 p.m., only to be told it was closed while other passengers in the same queue were still being processed.
“I use a walking stick permanently and British Airways’ wheelchair service because I can’t lift anything heavy or stand for long. I also have a trachea injury that affects my speech, so I avoid stress because when I force myself to shout, my body can go into shock,” Lawani said.
She alleged that staff ignored her and other passengers while closing the barricade and stopping check-in, despite other passengers still being assisted. “We kept pleading calmly, explaining that I had already checked in online and that I had a hospital appointment in the UK, but they were rude, nasty, and dismissive,” she added.
Lawani also claimed that while some passengers were turned away, a staff member secretly assisted another passenger away from public view. “A companion with me, @segun_wealth, recorded a video of her snapping another passenger’s boarding pass by the corner. The moment she noticed the recording, she panicked and claimed they were friends. If you’re friends, why are you secretly checking her in?” she asked. Lawani said the video was eventually deleted at the passenger’s request but insisted that airport CCTV would confirm the events.
“When a proper investigation starts, airport CCTV will tell the story. A whole Ghana cannot say there is no CCTV at the airport,” she added.
According to Lawani, the staff member became aggressive after noticing the recording. “She started screaming at us at the top of her voice, threatening that if we didn’t delete the video, she would make sure I wouldn’t travel, even if I rebooked my ticket. That was when I brought out my own phone to record her, and she repeated it, acting as if her father owns British Airways,” Lawani alleged.
She also claimed her phone was struck during the confrontation, describing the ordeal as physically and emotionally harrowing, particularly given her medical condition.
At the time of this report, British Airways had not issued an official response to the allegations.
Another passenger at the airport, speaking anonymously, corroborated Lawani’s account and called for an investigation. “I was there, and we all saw her trying to clear some other set of passengers through the corner. That is an obvious sharp practice. I think what these airline staff do is intentionally lock out passengers where they have either overbooked an aircraft or want to criminally scoop money from passengers to grant them entry, making their rights a privilege. Honestly, Nigerians should be treated better, not even when you saw that the person involved was in a wheelchair. British Airways will do well to investigate this matter,” the witness said.
The incident has sparked social media outrage, with many calling for accountability and a proper investigation into the airline’s handling of passengers, particularly those with disabilities.
#ToyinLawani #BritishAirways #AirportDrama
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