Nigerian passengers were left stranded in Lome, the capital of Togo, after an Air France flight, scheduled from Paris to Abuja, landed in the French-speaking nation due to bad weather, according to Festus Keyamo, the minister of aviation.
In a post on X on Thursday, Keyamo criticised the airline’s decision to leave the passengers in Togo overnight despite plans for the aircraft to return to Abuja on the same night to pick up outbound passengers.
“I have just been alerted of a situation involving mostly Nigerian passengers left stranded at Lome, Togo, by @airfrance. I am told that the flight from Paris bound for Abuja could not land due to the bad weather in Abuja this evening. The flight then diverted to Lome,” Keyamo said.
“However, the confounding situation now is that instead of bringing the passengers back to Abuja after the storm subsided, there are plans to leave them in Lome till tomorrow, even when that same flight will return to Abuja tonight to pick passengers.
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“After directing my Director of Air Transport management to call the country Manager of @airfrance, I also personally called @AirFranceNG a few minutes ago and insisted that those passengers must be brought back to Abuja tonight or be treated in line with best international standards if they must sleep in Lome.”
I have just been alerted of a situation involving mostly Nigerian passengers left stranded at Lome, Togo, by @airfrance. I am told that the flight from Paris bound for Abuja could not land due to the bad weather in Abuja this evening. The flight then diverted to Lome. However,… pic.twitter.com/l2JJcjbdDf
— Festus Keyamo, SAN, CON, FCIArb (UK) (@fkeyamo) February 27, 2025
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‘AFFECTED PASSENGERS WILL BE REROUTED TODAY’
In a statement on Friday, Air France acknowledged the diversion and confirmed that affected passengers were accommodated in a hotel.
“The crew of flight AF844 yesterday was unable to land in Abuja due to unfavorable weather conditions and decided to divert to Lomé. Customers bound for Abuja were immediately taken care of by our Air France teams at Lomé airport and accommodated in a hotel corresponding to the company’s standard,” Air France said.
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The airline cited “regulatory constraints” as the reason for not returning the passengers to Abuja the same night, stating that they would instead be rerouted on flight AF861 today, which would make an additional stop in Abuja before continuing to Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
Air France said ensuring the safety of its passengers and crew is its top priority and expressed regret for the inconvenience caused by the situation.
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