A businessman, Femi Olaniyi narrates his experience at the Los Angeles Airport to ADELANI ADEPEGBA
Tell us about yourself and your experience at the Los Angeles Airport in the United States.
My name is Femi Olaniyi, I retired from an electricity distribution company. I am now into property development. In December last year, I applied for a visa at the US consulate in Lagos and I was given a two-year multiple entry visa on December 23. I had wanted to holiday in California. I also planned to visit a family in Indianapolis. I had planned to go on the trip with my wife but she could not make it on account of her official schedule. She is a police officer. So, I left Nigeria on a Turkish Airline on February 21 but when we arrived at the Los Angeles Airport, things took a different turn.
What happened?
As we entered the arrival hall, an immigration officer accosted me and wanted to know why I was visiting the US which I politely told him. He asked how much I had on me and I said $300 and I also had $3,000 on my visa gold. The officer also demanded for my phone and travel documents which I released to him. He then went into an office with the items. He came back shortly when he didn’t find anything incriminating and said he wanted to capture my biometrics. Later, he said he would like to check my luggage, which I obliged him. He asked about my family and I told him about them; that I was married with children.
Did he find anything incriminating in your bag?
He searched the bag but did not find any contraband or incriminating item, so he asked me to sign a form. I collected the form and attempted to read it before signing it, but he flared up and said I should simply sign it. I said, ‘why do you want me to sign something without reading it?’ He got angry, brought a pair of handcuffs and clamped them on my hands. He then locked me in a cold cell. When I observed that the cell was quite cold, I knocked on the door and I told him that the cell was too cold, so he moved me to another one. I was in that cell for four days before he released me and sent me back to Nigeria. I was released on February 25 when I was placed on a plane back to Nigeria. To date, I don’t know the offence I committed that warranted my being treated like a criminal.
Have you experienced such treatment in other countries you visited?
I have never experienced such humiliation. I have visited many other countries but that was the first time I was treated like a common criminal. It is unfortunate and sad. I told them to charge me to court if they felt I had committed a crime. But they said no; that I was not entitled to a court hearing. They revoked my visa and banned me from visiting the US for five years. This was written on my passport; for an offence I know nothing about. My visa was to expire next year.
Why do you think the US immigration officer treated you the way he did?
Honestly, I don’t know because there was no reason for it. I had a valid visa, I had enough money to spend on my vacation and I was not found with any contraband or incriminating item. Despite that, I was treated in the most degrading and dehumanising way.
What would you like the Federal Government to do about your case?
The Federal Government should raise the issue with the US government. We cannot afford to gloss over the incident because it is a stain on our image. I don’t think I was the only one denied entry into the US. I am sure many other Nigerians might have experienced the same treatment to a lesser or greater degree. So, what Abike (Dabiri-Erewa) said about the US treatment of Nigerians is true; I am a living witness. This incident cost me close to a million naira and I am not even talking of the damage done to my reputation through the revocation of my visa and the five-year ban. If I take my passport to any embassy, they would think l committed a terrible offence. The American officer detained and treated me like a criminal. The Federal Government should address this issue; it is very unfortunate.”
END
Jimmy, do you now see why every Nigerian, not just Abike Dabiri, needs to raise their voice against this senseless treatment by insensitive and overzealous US Immigration officers. Even if they did not want to allow the poor man into the US, the worst they could have done was to deport him immediately or keep him where he could be monitored until they were ready to send him back to Nigeria, and not to handcuff him and treat him like a common criminal when he has did mot commot any crime. I think he should protest to the American Embassy here in Nigeria and get our NASS to hear about it.