By Seye Joseph
A Community Volunteer with One Africa Child Foundation, Olamide Ogunsanya who was travelling to Ethiopia to attend the ongoing African Union workshop on Strengthening Learning Opportunities for Youth in Mainstreaming Gender in Education Systems has narrated her grisly experience with the female officials of Nigerian Immigration Service who stole $50 from her purse at the Muritala Muhammad International Airport, Lagos.
According to Ogunsaya who was stranded at the Ethiopian airport said that she realized that her money was not in her purse and needed to pay for her visa on arrival.
“When I was checking-in at the airport, there was this female Nigerian immigration officer who was asking me for money and I told her that I don’t have money. Meanwhile, before time I have changed 20,000 naira to 50 dollars and had one five pounds with me, I tried changing the 5 pound but I was told that it was an old currency that they can’t change it for me. I put the dollar and pound money in my purse.
“She collected my bag for security for checking and picked a currency, I thought she took the 5 pounds so I never bothered. I didn’t check the purse, I just went away”, she said.
Ogunsanya who was tired and perplexed due to the strange behavior of the Nigerian official said that she checked her purse after getting to the airport in Ethiopia around 8:45pm to pay for her visa when she realized nothing was there.
“I started checking my purse but could not find my money. The Ethiopian officials seized my passport and told me that they will send back to Nigeria”
In escaping being sent back to Nigeria, Ogunsanya called one of her Ethiopian friends who she has been chatting with before getting to the country.
“I had to call him to help me with cash. I was given the visa around 2:00am after he helped me with $30 to pay for my visa and later went to the hotel”
She wants the officials to be dealt with as she didn’t understand why someone will betray her fellow citizen in the name of bribery and corruption.
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