Dear UK Border Agency, Where Is My Missing Bag? Asks Ify Otuya Nigerian Model and Singer

Dear UK Border Agency, Where Is My Missing Bag?

Ify Otuya

25/06/2013

To whom it may concern,

RE: Dear UK Border Agency, Where is My Missing Bag?

I am writing this letter to give an account of the circumstances that preceded the loss of my bag at the hands of UK Border Agency on the night of 12/062013 at Stanstead Airport. I am also urging an immediate investigation to rectify the matter and most hopefully return my lost bag to me. In Nov 2012 whilst in the UK, I applied for a visa extension, which Home Office denied a few months later in March 2013. My Nigerian passports were then withheld by UK Border Agency and I was offered an Assisted Voluntary Return ticket – as is offered generally on the UKBA website to all unsuccessful applicants who are in the UK. I booked an appointment with UKBA, accepted the ticket offer and was booked on a Lagos-bound chartered flight scheduled to leave on the 12th of June 2013. I accepted the offer without any fuss. No one had to spend paperwork or dispatch Home Office staff to chase me. I simply complied fully with Home Office, booked a ticket with UKBA, and showed up at the airport by myself with my suitcases on the day of my departure (although an hour late but an hour before my scheduled flight) to check in.

Whilst at Stanstead airport (just before being transported in a van, to the airport extension area a few miles off Stanstead airport premises, where we were to load the chartered flight), I was informed for the first time that I wouldn’t be allowed to take any of my handbags as hand luggage. I had two handbags, a few loose items and suitcases. I put the hand bag that was with me into a carrier suitcase offered to me by one of the staff in the van, but my second hand bag – a green-blue (teal) big handbag, unzipped, with a number of valuable items in it, including a visible macbook in a black synthetic case – was with another staff . He (the other staff) urged me not to worry about my suitcases and said he would load my bags that were with him on to the van. Initially, I wanted to do it myself. He wheeled the teal hand bag on a trolley along with some of my other suitcases to the back of the van, and loaded the items from the trolley into the boot of the van. Because it was done out of sight, I cannot say whether he loaded the teal bag – which l later realised was missing, or whether he left it on the trolley at the back of the van and then drove off in the van leaving my bag back at the airport. Either way, it is not something that CCTV footage from the evening cannot investigate and confirm. I didn’t spend more than 30 minutes at Stanstead airport before we drove off to the extension area. While at the extension area, I was scanned and checked on to the charter flight.

When I got on the flight, the immigration officers on the flight said to me that they had put my loose bags into a big carrier bag and that all my belongings had been sealed up safely. But when we arrived at Lagos, I noticed that my teal bag was missing and I immediately told them. One of the officers confirmed that he never saw the teal bag back at the Stanstead extension area (although he was not at the Stanstead main area, where the van was loaded) , which would indicate that my bag never left the Stanstead main area, or was not offloaded from the van on arrival at the Stanstead extension area. He confirmed that he definitely did not put the teal bag into the big carrier bag. The bag could not have been lost in Lagos either, because the other staff at the Stanstead extension area who helped take my belongings off the van, said they never saw the bag, how much more loaded it onto the plane. Again, this is not something that cannot be investigated and confirmed by going through CCTV footage from the evening. I personally took my teal bag to the airport and I most certainly can confirm that the bag arrived at the Stanstead main area. I paid for a trolley and put it on the trolley myself. The officer responsible for sealing up my items at the Stanstead extension area and allocating an ID to my bags was a colleague of Mark Deegan – another staff who traveled with us and whose name I collected. It was Mark Deegan who then made a number of calls on arrival in Lagos, to Inflite and Charter Office, to report my lost bag incident. He got through to someone, reported the case, left my contact number with them and told me that they would call me back. He left the numbers of Charter office and Inflite with me, but no one called back. After making a number of repeated calls to these offices myself, I eventually got through to staff at Inflite the next day, where the boss of the company hung up on me without even trying to help me locate my precious bag! I wasn’t being rude to her at all, I simply insisted that I needed to find my bag and stated the fact that it was UKBA and affiliates fault, that my bag was missing. And she hung up on me! Mark Deegan had said Inflite was the company contracted to transport the passengers on my flight, and that they worked with Stanstead airport security, which was why I called them in the first place. To have the boss of the company hang up on me was utterly unimaginable. When I called back immediately (speaking to a different staff of the company this time) and said that I had recorded the previous conversation and intended to use it as evidence against the company, I was told that the boss did not hang up, that the cable simply came out of the socket right at the time that my conversation with the boss terminated!

I just want my bag back with all the items intact! Where is my bag?

The bag lost by UKBA contained jewellery, official and personal letters, Tax Back form, one macbook, a USB key portable hard drive, tons of intellectual property, Cash in N1,000 notes, unpublished music and photo files, a newly written book in electronic copy, a samsung phone, box of chocolates, etc.

I have made so many calls, I am now tired of calling and trying to reach anyone. All the times I got through to Charter Office, I was only made to narrate the whole ordeal again, leave a contact number and told (every time without failing) that I would be called back the next day. However, no one has ever called me back. Not once! Having said that, not being called back at all by Charter Office (I spoke with Donna Lang more than once) is far more dignifying than having the boss of a UKBA affiliate company – Inflite -hang up on me for simply asking for my missing bag. I’ve heard so many stories about deportees and immigrants being subjected to horrible protocols, injustices and abuses at the hands of UKBA, I never thought that I would one day be at the receiving end of such despicable treatment. I have no criminal record in the UK nor anywhere else and have never been on state benefit in my entire life! I simply got denied a visa extension and this was what reduced me to the status of a deportee, worthy to be hung up on in the most reprehensible manner, by a big shot boss who represents an elite corporate establishment. Will I ever get my bag back? It’s not like I invaded anybody in Libya or Iraq and stole their oil for my country men and their children… and then got away with it. It is also not like I enjoy privileges from imperialism – whether Western or Islamic imperialism. I just want my bag so I can carry on with my life in peace and make some kind of tangible contribution to this world as I have tried to by taking up painstaking research worth a year, to write a book! I mean, if the boss can’t rectify a problem, who else can? I imagine this is the kind of treatment deportees are normally subjected to. I imagine I would have never found out for myself had I never been booked on that flight. One can only wonder what else transpires on deportee flights, that don’t get reported.

I just want my bag back. UK Border Agency, where is my missing bag?

Why UKBA and affiliate staff refused to let me hold on to any of my hand bags at the airport, I do not know. I was self-check in after all. I had simply accepted a travel ticket offered by Home office. I also do not know why UKBA staff did not check my hand bag in, nor did they tell me beforehand to make sure I packed my hand luggage in my suitcase myself to avoid losing it at the airport at the hands of UKBA. No one said before departure date that the implication of accepting a ‘free’ travel ticket from Home Office was the unaccounted loss of my intellectual property, macbook, personal items, and other valuables. Why UKBA and affiliates have refused to call me to tell me what less than an hour of airport CCTV footage showed them about the whereabouts of my bag – if anyone even bothered checking the whereabouts of the immigrant’s bag, that is – I do not know for sure.

Nothing would please me more than having my book returned to me so that I can continue sharing it in peace with my fans, readers and supporters like I was doing before UKBA lost it. I already published the Preface  and was due to publish the first chapter, the week after UKBA lost my bag. I have no other back up besides the copies on my macbook and USB key (which were in the bag). I have since prepared myself for the worst outcome and attempted to rewrite the lost chapters, but it was not the same. I didn’t even know where to start from. It is a lot of research, references and analyses now lost! I am not in the same state of mind either that I was creatively, when I began writing the book a year ago. I also cannot afford to give the same amount of time. I gave a year already towards researching and validating my theory about religio-political reformation, secularism, human rights and imperialism; which is what my book is on. I really need my bag back.

I just want my bag back, with all the items in it intact. I have letters for my tax back in the bag – including my P45, P60 and payslips – that I had to wait nearly a month to collect from my previous employer. To get a third party to collect another P45 form for my Tax Back application now, would cost me money, which I have no interest at all in paying for. I would have sent off the form already had UKBA not lost my bag. I had written and recorded compositions for my new album (which I will begin work on next week). I need to replay these compositions to my producer in Lagos, so he can reproduce the ideas and lyrics for my new album. However, I do not now have access to these original compositions. I may be able to reproduce them in bits and pieces as close to their original form as I can, but they will not be the same. Rewriting work I had written before is an inconvenience as well a s a setback, to say the least. I had some of these music files on my macbook and most of it on my USB key. I do not see any reason why UKBA would lose my bag with all the valuable items in it – including my precious macbook that was sticking out the bag and everyone could clearly see – and then decide to not have an ounce of integrity to call me to at the very least apologise, if it was stolen at the airport by a third party as a result of UKBA/ affiliated staff leaving it there. Or did UKBA staff help themselves to the valuables in my bag? Is this why UKBA is avoiding calling me, even though I had Mark Deegan call them immediately after my flight arrived at Lagos and I realised that my hand bag was missing? UKBA is always going on about ‘the problem with immigrants’ as if immigrants are the greatest monstrosity British society has ever been cursed with, meanwhile I as an immigrant co-operated with UKBA, with full integrity. A £3.000 bond has just been levied on Nigerian (and a number of other global south) citizens traveling to the UK, making it even more difficult for Nigerians to travel to the UK. But no one is keen on doing anything about Nigerians who leave the UK voluntarily and have their rights violated by UKBA. I wanted to hold my hand bag by myself at the airport, but your staff wouldn’t let me, and I didn’t want to argue with anyone so I just went on with everything they said. Why didn’t they check my teal hand bag in, when everyone could clearly see that a laptop was in there?

I don’t have the energy, I don’t have the time, nor the resources or even desire to keep making redundant calls to different offices, just to have people like the boss of Inflite hang up on me just because I was booked on the chartered deportee flight to Nigeria, even though I was only calling to chase up my bag that was lost by none other than UK Border Agency and affiliates. I seriously doubt that she would have hung up on me if I was a Western citizen. I am now writing this detailed letter, expressing my disapproval, my frustration and sending the letter to as many people as I think could be helpful to me getting my bag back or at the least, finding out its whereabouts. If you’ve lost my bag, please call me yourself to tell me you have lost it, and tell me what I’m meant to do now that you’ve lost an incredible amount of my intellectual property. Granted, there are downsides to not owning a British passport, but this is an ultimate low ordeal for non members of the global elite Western citizenry.

Yours Sincerely,

Ify Otuya

Motha Sankaratite.

TWENTY YEARS AFTER JUNE 12: LET US SAY THANK YOU By Hafsat Abiola Costello

TWENTY YEARS AFTER JUNE 12: LET US SAY THANK YOU

Twenty years ago, Nigerians trooped out in their millions, to vote in accordance with their conscience,  at an election meant to serve as the culmination of General Ibrahim Babangida’s democratic transition program.

Today, as we reflect on that epoch making event, let us recall the collective  sacrifices Nigerians made to change our destiny. Many often speak about MKO Abiola as the symbol of June 12, and I shall come back to speak about the man and his vision shortly. But first let us recall that June 12 was a people's movement, born out of the collective frustration and anger of Nigerian people at the direction our country was going. It was a movement that was given its first breath of life by students across Nigeria, who engaged in protests against the lack of jobs in the economy. It was sustained by our activists, our market women, our unions, our journalists, and our progressive politicians. 

Perhaps, then it would seem self-evident, altogether natural and fitting, that MKO would emerge as the symbol of this dynamic, grassroots movement. His decisive victory during the June 12 elections and the military's unjust annulment made him the clear symbol and rallying point for the pro-democracy movement. Although he was a successful businessman who walked in the corridors of power in Nigeria and around the world, he was ultimately a man of the people, remaining steadfast in defense of the democratic mandate given to him by the Nigerian people in the face of deceit, betrayal, and treachery from his so-called friends; and intimidation, attacks of his businesses and his arrest by the military. Finally, the struggle claimed  his life and that of his principal wife, Kudirat.

But today is not a day for sorrow. No, not even when the main beneficiaries of his sacrifice fail to honor the ideals for which these true democrats laid down their lives; not even when the national leadership since 1999 has sought to wipe MKO's name out of our living memory; no, not even when poverty eats more deeply into the minds and bodies of Nigerians than it did in 1993. For sorrow has no place when enough of us remain committed to MKO's vision of a Nigeria free of poverty.

Instead, let today be a day for true democrats to rise up again, and dust off our shoes and begin the march for true democracy once again. For 20 years later, we have come full circle. As the progressives across the land come together in a coalition party, our political landscape will soon be set for another election between two main parties; a contest that will force people to move beyond primordial sentiments towards performance as the means for deciding to whom they will give their support.

We will soon be set for an election not unlike the June 12 election. However, unlike the 1993 election, this time, the progressives may find that their daring, their determination, their courage and commitment will be rewarded with victory. So on this day, let us say thank you to those that blazed the trail, at the same time that we acknowledge that the journey continues. May 2015 see the blossoming of democracy in Nigeria.

AUDIO: UK Caller phoned 999 to tell police his prostitute was ugly

We Are Not A Terrorist Organization. Oodua Peoples Congress

It has come to the notice of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) that some prominent people from the Northern part of the country who are not happy with the determination of the Federal Government to put a stop to the wanton killings in the north have decided to cast aspersion on the OPC by equating it with the Boko Haram sect.

We have decided to remain neutral and maintain our peace since the orgy of killings started. But we have taken note of statements credited to some prominent Northern leaders, especially since the crack down on the Boko Haram sect.
In the Thursday, 6 June, 2013 edition of The Punch newspaper, former commissioner of police in Lagos State, Abubakar Tsav, while condemning Federal Government’s all-out attack on Boko Haram, wondered why the president failed to ban other groups, including the OPC, because, according to him, the groups are involved in acts of terrorism.

We state here as a matter of fact that the OPC is a visible organisation, with known addresses all over the country. Its leaders are also known and accessible to all Nigerians, including security agencies. We draw our strength from our membership of more than seven million. It is also on record that we don’t engage in clandestine activities, since our activities are known to all and recorded for history by the vibrant and courageous Nigerian media, and therefore in no way a security threat to the country.

Our travails

Let us recall here that our leaders, Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, Otunba Gani Adams and four other leaders were arrested and detained by the Obasanjo administration in 2002 and 2005.

It may interest you to know that we were taken to court and discharged and acquitted of all the charges, including belonging to unlawful organization and unlawful association.
The first was time was at the Federal High Court, Lagos, where Justice Dan Abutu struck out the matter and discharged and acquitted us of all the charges. The second case was at the State High Court, Abeokuta, Ogun State, where Justice Charles Oluremi Jacobs (OFR) also struck out the case, discharged and acquitted us.

The government still took us before Justice Sybil Nwaka of the Lagos High Court. The honourable justice also struck out the case, discharged and acquitted us.
But surprisingly, we were taken before Justice Anwuli Chikere of the Federal High Court, Abuja. On 19th of December, 2006, the honourable judge ruled in our favour, while discharging and acquitting us.

You will agree with us that these four rulings are enough proof that the OPC is not an unlawful organization or a threat to national security.

Setting the records straight

But for the purpose of setting the records straight, it has become necessary for us to come out and speak on this very serious and controversial issue, since our silence may be interpreted to mean admission of guilt.
To most discerning Nigerians, nothing can be further from the truth than this statement credited to the former police boss. The activities of the OPC in the last ten years in the south-west of the country speak volume of the peaceful nature of our group.

Our activities

It would be interesting to educate these people on our activities. As we speak, the OPC is in the fore-front of the promotion and propagation of the cultural values, ideals and rich history of the Yoruba race, even beyond the shores of Nigeria.


At this juncture, let me list some of the prominent Yoruba festivals that our organization has put on the global cultural map with our involvement. They include the popular Osun Oshogbo festival in Osun State, Oke Ibadan festival in Oyo State, Okota festival in Ondo State, Olumo and Lisabi festivals in Ogun State, Oranmiyan festival in Oyo State and Oya festival in Kwara State, among several others.

But perhaps the most interesting aspect of our cultural drive is the popular Olokun festival in Lagos State. It may interest you to know that Olokun festival was started in 2002 as part of our efforts to bring the world attention to our rich cultural values. In 2005, we took another step by registering this festival which holds in Badagry, Lagos State.
Since then, we have received kudos and encouragements from several groups, including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) for our efforts to promote culture.


Providing security for the people

It is a known fact among residents of Lagos State and other major towns across the south west that the OPC has played and will continue to play prominent roles in the security of lives and properties of the people.

Also, as part of our efforts to engender peace through quality leadership, the OPC has consistently organized leadership training programmes for its leaders both at home and in the Diaspora.

Aside these laudable programmes, we are committed to creating wealth and lifting our people out of poverty with our poverty alleviation programmes, targeted at widows and the less-privileged, through the Gani Adams Foundation. It is also on record that our organization has contributed to intellectual discourse in the country with our lectures, which aim to eradicate ignorance among the people.

Relationship with other ethnic groups

It is also a known fact that the OPC has and continues to maintain a solid peaceful relationship with other ethnic groups spread all over the south west region of the country. For instance, the National Coordinator of the OPC, Otunba Gani Adams, was the chairman recently at the Turban ceremony of the Seriki Hausa of Oshodi in Lagos. Activities like this are common, and speak volumes of the activities of our group.

Participation in Govt’s peace initiatives

It will also be recalled that the Otunba Gani Adams was a participant at the National Peace Forum, organized by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Inter-party Relations, in 2004. The OPC leader was later appointed as a state Peace Envoy.

In the same vein, the OPC also participated at the African First Ladies Peace Mission meeting, organized in Abuja by the office of the First Lady in 2012.

You will recall that the OPC is Yoruba organization, formed with the basic aim of promoting the cultural values of our forefathers and also to protect the interest of our people. In this regard, nobody can fault our activities. Rather, unlike the acts of violence raging in other parts of the country, the south west has been very peaceful, with no single act of terrorism recorded on our soil.

Advice for Tsav

It is surprising that Mr. Abubakar Tsav, a former police boss, will choose to attack the OPC. While the OPC continues to contribute its quota to the development of the country, with activities like the donation of books that will assist indigent students to public libraries, Mr. Tsav, while seeking to remake himself, has become a critic of anything that catches his fancy.

Let him borrow a leaf from other retired police officers with sterling qualities to turn his efforts towards activities that will bring about peace among the diverse religions and the ethnic nationalities that make up the country.

Conclusion

Lets us remind Nigerians that the OPC remains committed to the promotion of the rich cultural values of the Yoruba people, with a view to a peaceful co-existence with other ethnic groups in the country. Therefore, let nobody make attempt to drag us into an unnecessary conflict in order to make a scapegoat of the OPC. As leaders, those seeking to drag the OPC into their conflict should direct their energies at efforts that will bring to an end the killings, hostage taking and kidnappings in the north and other parts of the country.

National Coordinator,
Oodua People’s Congress
Otunba Gani Adams