The plaintiffs – Sadiq Usman, Luqman Hussain, Muhammad
Danazumi, and Zubair Usman – accused the airline of breach of contract, and
violation of their rights as well as certain provisions of the Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority (NCAA) regulations.
They filed their suit at the High Court of the Federal
Capital Territory in Abuja on December 31, 2020, demanding over N6.7 million as
damages, refund of the fare they paid for the wasted flight tickets, and cost
of prosecuting the suit.
Plaintiffs’ grouse
They stated in their statement of claim contained in their
suit that they bought air tickets from Arik Air for Flight W3 838 which was set
to depart Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja on October 22, 2020, at
11:15 a.m. and arrive Yola International Airport, at 12:35 p.m. of the same
day.
The plaintiffs, however, expressed regrets that they arrived
the airline’s check-in counter at about 9 a.m., more than two hours ahead of
the scheduled flight, but no one was available to attend to them.
Mr Usman, who stated that he was to attend a wedding in
Yola, averred that he was at the check-in counter of the airline till 12 p.m.
“when he discovered that the flight had been cancelled, with no correspondence
of any sort made by the defendant (Arik) to him in respect of the cancelled
flight and no notice whatsoever had been given to him in advance about the
cancellation.”
The plaintiffs’ joint statement of claim added, “That till
11:15hrs when the flight was scheduled to depart, there were no announcements
for boarding and he had received no notices from the defendant at any point in
time with reasons for the cancellation, after it was confirmed from the airport
authorities that the flight was indeed cancelled.
“That the first plaintiff (Usman) paid the cash sum of N26,
391.00 (twenty six thousand three hundred and ninety one naira)for the purchase
of the said flight ticket as well as the evidence of payment issued.
“That as at the time of filling this suit, there is no
communication whatsoever from Defendant as to the cancelation of the flight or
reimbursement of the amount spent.”
Mr Hussain, who narrated a similar ordeal, also stated that
the check-in desk of the airline remained unmanned two hours after the
scheduled departure time, and that “there were no announcements heralding the
arrival of flight W3 838 to Yola.”
The second plaintiff stated that he had paid N51,525 for the
flight ticket with the evidence of payment issued.
While the third plaintiff, Mr Danazumi, a lawyer, stated
that he paid N74,772 for the flight ticket, the fourth plaintiff, Mr Usman, who
stated that his scheduled trip to Yola was primarily to facilitate his mother’s
medical emergencies and to attend a friend’s wedding ceremony, said he paid
N51,525 to purchase the ticket.
Aside Mr Usman, whose ticket was for a one-way trip, the
three other plaintiffs stated that their tickets were for return trips by which
the airline was meant to return them to Abuja at different times on October 24,
25, and 27.
The plaintiffs stated that a few hours before the
cancellation of the flight, Arik Air till sold tickets to intended passengers,
including one Mustapha Sulaiman.
According to them, on the said October 22, other airlines
were operating, and “in fact Max-Air took off to Yola at about 9:00 hours or
thereabout”.
The plaintiffs who claimed that they snapped pictures of
Arik’s unmanned check-in counters on October 22, 2020, stated that they tried
to report the situation to NCAA, “but there was no one on seat to lodge the
complaint.”
They added that “after waiting for about two hours after the
scheduled departure time, it was clear the flight was cancelled.”
The plaintiffs stated that the Arik Air flight was the last
flight to Adamawa and that there was no other flight available for them to fly
on Friday and Saturday (October 23 and 24, 2020).
They stated that they lost N135,000 which they paid through
Prof A. L Tukur for booking of rooms in Damada Hotel in Yola, as a result of
the cancellation of the flights.
The plaintiffs, through their lawyer, Musa Danladi,
therefore asked the court to among others declare that Arik Air “is in express
breach of its contract” by failing to transport for the trips shown on the air
tickets sold to them by the airline.
They also asked the court to declare that “the defendant is
in direct breach of the National Civil Aviation Regulations and in violation of
the plaintiffs rights when it failed to offer the plaintiffs immediate
reimbursement in cash following the abrupt cancellation of flight W3 838 to
Yola.”
They also asked the court to declare that the defendant
violated NCAA regulation “when it failed to offer assistance in the form of
hotel accommodation and transportation within the time limits set out by the
regulations to the plaintiffs following the cancellation of flight W3 838 to
Yola.”
They also urged the court to order monetary awards to them.
These comprise the total sum of N204,213 as specific
damages, representing the total amount paid for flight tickets by all the
plaintiffs.
They also sought an order directing the defendant to pay
them N5 million in general damages “following the irremediable inconvenience,
transportation, hotel accommodation, loss of valuable time, physical and mental
torture, steep financial losses and psychological trauma occasioned by the
actions and inactions of the defendant”.
They also sought an order directing Arik Air to pay the
plaintiffs N1.5 million.
The suit has not been assigned to a judge and the defendant
has not filed a defence.
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