The President of the Christian Tourism Practitioners’ Association of Nigeria (CTPAN), Rev. Israel Kristilere has called out the Egyptian Police following the his alleged assault during his stopover alongside other travellers at the Cairo International Airport last 30 April.
According to Kristilere, also the Senior Pastor of Shepherdhill Baptist Church, Obanikoro, Lagos, he was travelling alongside 28 other pilgrims to Amman and took an Egyptian Air from Lagos. On getting to Egypt for their four-hour stopover, Kristilere that the passengers were about to board another flight when the Egyptian Police called him to follow them to their office. He was reportedly told that he had sexually assaulted a lady at the airport.
According to the CEO of Oasis of Faith Intercontinental Limited, a private Christian pilgrimage company, he explained that he had never set his eyes on her. He said he however apologised as he was requested to do. He said he told the lady that he did not know her, and that if it was a missing identity, he was sorry. Thereafter, he said the officials offered a solution. He was told to sign a document in Arabic. But he insisted on having the document translated into English.
Kristilere said he objected, and was threatened that he would miss his flight and be charged to court. As the heated conversation continued, he wrote on the document that he did not commit the offence. The desk manager of the airport came in and spoke to them, and this led to his release, the tourism professional said.
On getting to the aircraft, Kristilere said he discovered that all the co-travellers refused to enter the plane, leading to his speedy release from the officers.
He said that he is calling out the Egyptian Police because he was traumatised as a result of their unruly attitude towards him.
He noted that this is one of the many syndicates in various airports across Africa, and it would be essential to alert the Nigerian government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) and travellers to be aware of another antic in the hands of the Egyptian Police.
