By Lukman Olabiyi
A passenger on Virgin Atlantic Airways, Alhaji Ahmed Rabiu, has told the Federal High Court, Lagos, that, contrary to the airline’s claims, he was neither compensated for his lost luggage nor was it replaced.
Rabiu, who made these claims in his response to Virgin Atlantic Airways’ statement of defence, stated that his lawsuit is valid and well-founded, as the defendant has not denied that he lost his luggage while using their airline.
In its defence, the airline blamed its inability to trace and locate the plaintiff’s luggage on his failure to provide adequate information on the Property Irregularity Form given to him after he reported the loss.
The defendant also stated in its statement of defence that the plaintiff’s allegations of fraud, recklessness, and negligence by the airline, its staff, or its agents are false.
The plaintiff, who is a security expert, had dragged Virgin Atlantic Airways before the court over allegations of breach of contract and the loss of his luggage on board its London to Lagos flight on 24th September 2024.
In the suit, Rabiu is demanding the sum of $4,000 for the value of the items contained in the plaintiff’s stolen luggage and N20 million as damages for the distress, inconvenience, and solicitors’ fees incurred in the course of recovering the luggage.
In an affidavit filed in support of the suit, the passenger averred that he boarded flight No. CNY3JV from London Heathrow, United Kingdom, to Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos after undergoing rigorous security checks; he was properly checked in, along with his tagged prime luggage, by the defendant’s operational staff.
But after the plane landed in Lagos, he waited at the conveyor belt from the moment the baggage carousel was activated until it was switched off, and every other passenger on the defendant’s flight picked up their luggage and left, except him.
The plaintiff also maintained that he immediately informed the defendant’s staff on the ground, and he was given the defendant’s Loss of Baggage Form to fill out and submit, which he did immediately, but the airline neither returned his luggage, replaced it, nor paid for the value of the contents of his luggage.
Rabiu also claimed that, upon the theft and loss of his luggage, he instructed his lawyers to write the defendant a demand letter requesting the luggage or payment for the contents of the luggage.
He further stated that the defendant’s failure to deliver his luggage to him upon arrival in Lagos, after he had strained his finances to purchase the defendant’s flight ticket, constituted a significant breach of contract.
The plaintiff also stated that the defendant’s statement of defence is dilatory, vexatious, and a deliberate attempt to escape liability despite the defendant’s negligence and/or recklessness.
The defendant, in its statement of defence, submitted that the plaintiff is not entitled to N20 million as damages, and in the unlikely event that it is found liable in this suit, its liability, if any, shall be as provided in the Montreal Convention 1999, which has been entrenched in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Act, 2023.
Justice Alexander Owoeye has fixed 7th March for the hearing of the suit.