Dana Airlines Limited has asked the Federal High Court in Enugu to dismiss a claim brought against it by a passenger in a wheelchair, Gloria Nwogbo, who accused the carrier of discrimination for preventing her from boarding after buying a ticket. plane.

In the lawsuit filed on her behalf by the registered administrators of the Disability Rights Protection Initiative, a civil society organization, Nwogbo, who is a teacher based in Anambra State, demanded 550 million naira for damages for what she described as the humiliation she suffered at the hands. of the airline due to his disability.

She said: “I was supposed to travel on 5th August 2021 from Enugu State to Lagos. I had an appointment the next day and had to be in Lagos. I booked in advance. Upon arriving at the airport, Dana Airlines (workers) told me that I would not board, as I am disabled and in a wheelchair. Of course, they said it was their protocol. They told me that their protocol prohibits people in wheelchairs from traveling alone.

“I was totally devastated because it wasn’t my first time traveling by plane. The humiliation was too much. I felt so bad and it caused me a lot of damage, which I can’t describe now. They made me see myself as a person in front of my people and in my own country.

But in opposition to the complaint, the airline filed a counter affidavit asking the court to dismiss its claim for lack of merit.

While denying humiliating Nwogbo, the airline said it was prevented from boarding because it failed to comply with the airlines’ terms and conditions that any passenger in a wheelchair must be accompanied by someone else.

The airline said: “On August 5, 2021, Gloria Ogoamaka Nwogbo, a special passenger, arrived at the checkpoint for the Respondent’s scheduled flight from Enugu to Lagos but was not accompanied by anyone.

“The terms and conditions of the ticket and contract of carriage between Gloria Ogomaka Nwogbo and Dana Airlines succinctly stated that Gloria Ogoamaka Nwogbo, a passenger in a wheelchair, a special passenger, was only to travel on the defendant’s aircraft if she was accompanied by another person.

“Gloria Ogomaka Nwogbo did not fulfill the requirement to be accompanied by another person to board the Accused’s aircraft that day.”

The airline therefore urged the court to dismiss its complaint “with substantial costs”.

Judge FO Giwa-Ogunbanjo has set May 31, 2022 for the hearing.

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