A Ghanian national who reportedly threw a fit over his delayed flight to Canada over the weekend is now facing deportation proceedings.
Benjamin Akomeah, 30, who was travelling with a Filipino woman, apparently resented the delay and uttered unsavory remarks addressed to an immigration officer at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) who had questioned his travel documents for Vancouver.
When Ma. Lourdes Quidangen, supervisor of BI’s travel control and enforcement unit, discovered that Kristine Maceda Alingod, his companion, was not actually his wife and sponsor of his temporary resident visa, Akomeah got mad, the official said.
“I even asked if Alingod needed a wheelchair, and he replied in a loud voice that his ‘wife’ was pregnant,” Quidangen said.
The BI official added that Akomeah grabbed the phone she was using to verify information on the foreigner’s immigration status.
“Who are you calling, Malacañang? Don’t you know who I am? Do you know who you’re dealing with?” the Ghanaian was quoted as saying, addressing Quidangen.
Akomeah reportedly refused to calm down despite the arrival of other BI personnel and airport police officers.
The incident led to Akomeah’s being offloaded, or taken off from the plane’s list of passengers. Alingod, meanwhile, voluntarily cancelled her flight.
Airport operations acting chief Ma. Carmelita Vitan recommended the cancellation Akomeah’s temporary resident visa and the blacklisting of the foreigner for calling Quidangen names,
The BI also filed a complaint of direct assault against Akomeah in the Pasay Prosecutor’s Office for resisting and intimidating the immigration officer.
The BI said Akomeah’s lawyer claimed Quidangen and an unidentified immigration officer “showed abuse of their authority, and, needless to say, their malicious imputation of crime against our client.”