Nigerian kicked off UK plane for being a Muslim

Laolu Opebiyi, a Nigerian based in the United Kingdom was kicked out from a plane by armed police at Luton Airport after a fellow passenger read a message on his mobile phone about prayer and reported him as a security threat. According to the UK Guardian, Opebiyi, from London was due to fly to Amsterdam and had been trying to arrange a conference call prayer with friends on WhatsApp when he was reported by the passenger. The passenger was said to be reading Opebiyi’s phone over his shoulder, before alerting security that he was chatting with friends about prayer.

The passenger later got off the plane, saying he was not feeling too well. Opebiyi was then questioned and was forced to hand over his phone and provide his password to prove his innocence. He was later cleared by a detective but the pilot refused to let him back on board.

He then had to wait more than three hours for the next flight. Opebiyi, a Nigerian-born Christian, told the UK Guardian that the passenger next to him assumed he was a Muslim and jumped to the conclusion that he may be a terrorist. He explained to the armed men that he is a Christian, showing them the Bible in his bag and telling them the Church he attends.

They also asked him about the name of the conference call prayer group, which was “ISI men” – an acronym for “iron sharpens iron”, from the Bible quote “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”. The passenger who reported Opebiyi may have misread “ISI men” as “ISIS”, an acronym for Islamic State.

 Opebiyi feared he would be placed on a terrorist watchlist, one of the passengers for the next flight said if “he is on the next flight, I am not getting on the flight”. “Someone felt I was a terrorist because they saw the word ‘prayer’ on my phone and now I stand in uncertainty about my freedom of movement in and out of the United Kingdom,” he said.

 An easyJet spokesman said: “The safety and security of its passengers and crew is our highest priority which means that if a security concern is raised we will always investigate it as a precautionary measure. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to the passenger.” The Nigerian man is also a British citizen and a business analyst. Credit: TheCable