The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) management has closed the KFC facility at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on March 28, 2024.
The decision was made after a social media report by a passenger with Reduced Mobility (PRM) alleging discriminatory treatment he received at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The passenger in question was Adebola Daniel, the son of Senator Gbenga Daniel, former governor of Ogun state.
Daniel, who took to X to share his experience, said that, because of his disability, he was made to feel “less than human, like a guard dog not allowed into the house”.
“Being disabled often rolls over my spirit, leaving behind a trail of shattered dignity and forgotten humanity. Nowhere more so than in Nigeria,” he wrote on X.
He explained that after all the necessary documentation had been concluded at the airport ahead of his Virgin Atlantic flight to London, he decided to pass the time, alongside his wife and siblings, at the KFC restaurant while waiting for the flight.
However, he was in for a shock, as the female manager at the restaurant humiliated him, saying wheelchairs and users were not permitted on the KFC premises. She also demanded that they leave immediately, according to Daniel.
Meanwhile, a statement from FAAN today read: ”The MD/CE of FAAN, Mrs Olubunmi, Kuku, intervened swiftly by deploying a management team comprising the Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Mrs Obiageli Orah, the Regional Manager South West, Mr Sunday Ayodele, Ag. General Manager Public Affairs, Mrs Ijeoma Nwosu-Igbo and the International Terminal Manager, Mr Kerri, to investigate the allegation.
”It is based on the findings of the team that FAAN has shut down the KFC facility at the MMA, where the incident occurred.
”The Authority has instructed that KFC Management should write an unreserved apology to the affected PRM and paste a policy statement of non-discrimination conspicuously at the door post of their facility at MMIA before it resumes operation.
”FAAN uses this medium to express our unreserved apology to the affected Passenger with Reduced Mobility and assures all airport users that we shall continue to work tirelessly to ensure that the rights of every passenger are not infringed upon.”
