Fakoyejo Olalekan
A faulty escalator at the Murtala Muhammed international airport in Lagos will result to a lawsuit against the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) after a Nigerian traveller simply identified as Elvi experienced a “near-death experience”.
Elvi, in a statement on Twitter on Sunday, said it took 40 minutes for officials of FAAN to arrive with first aide box to treat her injury which she suffered when her son wanted to use the escalator in the airport.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAccording to her narration, they were told that the escalators were serviced few days before she had the incident, but when Elvi, her husband and children got on the escalator, they noticed it had a razor-sharp edges, and it was moving fast towards them.
What happened to Elvi?
In her explanation, she said people were tripping over themselves as a result of the razor-sharp edges which was injuring people on September 3, 2022, “I noticed the razor-sharp edges of the escalator and it was going very fast. I looked down and the very-fast escalator had people tumbling on themselves. Humans started piling on each other. My reflex, I lifted my five-year-old in the air, he spread his legs high while I lay on my back.
“I joined the pile of humans at the base of the escalator. The only defense I had for myself was to raise my head so that only my back was bearing the grind of the escalators. A passenger snatched my five-year-old from me.
“My nine-year-old son, behind me, jumped over the railings and other passengers caught him. My husband was behind me [and] had managed to take a grip that only his back was scratched by the sharp edges. My daughter and Gloria who were behind my husband were running back up the escalators.
“Eventually some people lifted me up at the base of the death-trap called escalators. The immigration officers that were looking at us, looked away while continuing with the job at hand on which passengers will be in a net, ‘catch for the day’.” She explained.
Elvi further stated that, “I was bleeding and anxious to go to a hospital.” Adding that, “I don’t think it should be a crime to come back to my country after a holiday abroad only to go through a near-death experience.”
Elvi to sue for damages
Elvi said the state of those escalators is totally unacceptable, and described the incident as an obnoxious show and dereliction of duty from the immigration and security officials at the airport.
She disclosed that the Nigerian government will be sued for damages, “I wonder who certified and approved the safety/use of these escalators. We were told that they were serviced a few days before. I am definitely going to sue. The state of those escalators is totally unacceptable.” Elvi stated.
“As a citizen of this country and a consistent taxpayer, I have the right to raise an inquiry into this matter and sue for damages. It’s more worrisome that protection, safety, support of human life is an outward neglect and negligence of the immigration officers at the airport.”
