A Nigerian’s airport rage in Kenya

She arived in Nairobi for her connecting flight (Nairobi-Paris) but did not have a Schengen visa, which is required to enter or transit through any European Union country.

KQ offered Omisore an alternative route via London to Manchester, which she turned down.

She demanded accommodation, which KQ does not provide when boarding is denied due to visa issues. Omisore lost her composure, and things escalated from there. The airline alleges that she removed and threw three used sanitary pads at its staff. She was then sent back to Lagos – but not before her compatriots had rallied to her cause.

Michael Achimugu, spokesperson for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), came out strongly, demanding that Omisore be flown to her destination at KQ’s expense.

“If Ms Gloria Ibukun Omisore is not airlifted safely to her final destination within a couple of hours, there will be ramifications,” Achimugu warned in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Calmer heads prevailed in the end, and the airline stated that after a meeting with its representatives in Lagos, the Nigerian authorities agreed that Omisore would be flown back to Nigeria instead.

Omisore’s case is not an exception. We live in times where this is gradually becoming the norm. The abuse and attacks on airline staff are rampant in many countries. From the UK to the US and Canada, workers are absenting themselves or quitting their jobs due to the rising abuses. Some states in the US are passing laws to help tackle passenger violence.

Matters have gotten so bad that it’s not uncommon for passengers to do the unthinkable on aeroplanes.

In October 2023, on a flight from Tenerife to London Gatwick, a passenger defecated on the floor of the front toilet, leading to the flight’s cancellation.

A year earlier, in October 2022, on a British Airways flight from Heathrow to Lagos, a passenger defecated on the floor, and then smeared faeces around the cabin, including on curtains and carpets.

This led to a three-hour delay for a deep clean, after which an alternative aircraft was arranged. In June 2023, a passenger on an Air India flight was arrested for defecating and urinating on the floor mid-air.

The miscreant was charged with obscene acts and public misconduct. The list is long and some are extremely gross.

The rage extends beyond airlines, prompting the question of why we have become angrier.

Is it because governments, employers, society, and general economic and social conditions have become nastier and more difficult?

To understand Omisore’s rage, one must look back to Lagos. It’s a city where some people with a nose for money a kilometre away, are providing “rage rooms” where individuals pay to smash electronics and furniture with a sledgehammer to let off steam and take a break from the cost-of-living crisis.

In this way, Nairobi, where rage rooms are growing, is Lagos’ kindred spirit.

A report in the Daily Nation last October spoke of a rage room where “frazzled” Nairobians paid Ksh3,500 (Tsh 68,950) to smash TV screens and other breakables.

Ksh3,500 is not small change; you could buy enough chapatis with that to feed a school of 350 children.

Not all angry people are weighed down by problems and frustrations.

A good number are spoilt, suffering from a deranged sense of entitlement.

I have seen my fair share of a burly man-child, with three gold chains around his neck and a glittering shirt, along with his girlfriend, complete with false three-centimetre-long eyelashes and a surgically enhanced bosom, shoving and slapping a waiter who brought the wrong order or delayed it.

Or just a group of rich or powerful folks berating the hapless security guard or driver.

The data on the abuse of airline staff, health workers, service and retail employees, ride-hail drivers, and others is disheartening.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) reported that 72 per cent of airline or airport staff have faced intimidation, shouting, or physical harm.

Studies have reported that in several parts of the world, 82 per cent of Emergency Room (ER) nurses experienced physical assault in a year.

A Business Insider article from 2021 reported that 62 per cent of restaurant workers have experienced emotional abuse and disrespect from customers.

Uber’s Safety Report for 2019-2020 indicated that 43 per cent of sexual assault incidents reported to Uber involved riders being the accused party (but drivers were accused 56 per cent of the time).

And a staggering 90 per cent of retail workers (and 95 per cent of managers) have experienced abuse by customers at work.

The Nairobi and Lagos rage rooms are how we cope; they’re also a reminder of how we have failed.