It was written all over me that something was wrong… I sat quietly almost all through the eight hour flight, apart from the about a year old baby of the passenger beside me who constantly wanted me to carry him but it added to my negative mood (though I didn’t display it), because I just left a month old boy in Lagos, Nigeria with my wife. It was a Sunday afternoon of April 21st, 2019, so I watched Manchester United slaughtered by Everton and Liverpool struggled to win against Cardiff, yet my spirit was not so lifted as I constantly thought of my young family.

Disembarking from the airplane, I put a call through to my family and to a friend I had informed to pick me. I claimed my bags from the carousel and went to use the convenience room but unknown to me, as I later learnt from a friend who worked at the Dubai International Airport, everyone’s movements is under watch once you disembark from the plane…so, my movements of calling, entering the toilet looked suspicious and to crown it all, I carried an obvious identity…BLACK Skin with one of the most disrespected document…THE GREEN NIGERIAN PASSPORT!

I have lived in the country for five years and so I need not join the long queue at the immigration to get my passport stamped, I only had to insert my card at the new smart gate, get my face scanned before gaining access. My residence is barely ten minutes from terminal three, so my friend called that he was already waiting and that gave me a sense of urgency as I didn’t want to delay him. Then I approached the last scanner. I put my bags through the luggage scanner then I also passed through scanner meant for humans. As I got to the other side, a cool voice from left said, ‘good evening young man’.

I looked at the direction; a young, tall, difficult-to-read man (in mufti) was staring at me suspiciously. ‘Where did you fly from and do you have valuable items to declare?’ he asked innocently. I answered him confidently as I thought it was normal routine check. Then he said, ‘I need you to empty your three bags’. Are you kidding me, to empty fifty-six kilograms load and then repack it… I thought. In order to avoid the drama, I opened my wallet and showed him my Emirates identity card to show I wasn’t travelling for the first time. ‘Let me see it, but it doesn’t matter and I’m not joking’ he said.

Then different thoughts filled my mind and became a little bit confused as I unpacked and the man never took his eyes off me. Had someone planted drug in my bag? Did the scanner spot cocaine in my bag? Could anyone have done that in Lagos airport? What would happen if they find anything implicating? Then a fully dressed immigration officer interrupted my thoughts, ‘can you open those two plastics?’ ‘It’s garri… Granulated cassava’ I said but there was a question on my mind, had someone

exchanged my garri for cocaine or something? There was a sigh of relief as I opened it and found that it was still garri. Then it was my turn to run my mouth…’sir, in my opinion, you need a better scanner to detect exhibits and to save innocent people like me this sort of headache.’ As I pulled my bag off the table I heard, ‘do have a prosperous stay’ I replied angrily and instantly… ‘Mr. I don’t need that wish from any of you’ pointing to two of them. I walked into the parking lot where my friend was, tired of waiting. I felt sorry for him as I looked at my phone and saw seventeen missed calls. How come I never noticed that my phone rang seventeen times!

Do not feel lazy to monitor your bags while packing it and don’t be so careless to leave the bags unlocked. I locked mine and still felt the pressure, how much more if it wasn’t locked.

Come to think of it, why do people carry drugs? To get rich? What is the profit of selling or being an agent of things that are lethal and could destroy lives? Maybe you might be unlucky in your next trip as a dealer or agent. If you are a drug user, dealer or agent, don’t you think you are more valuable for your system to be destroyed by cocaine or to be wasted through bullets? You are too precious even the people you think you are making the money for (family) or people you are trying to impress by being desperate to be rich won’t appreciate your misdirected efforts. And for those who are fond of planting exhibit into people’s bags, what if the same is done to your mother or your son?!


Let us lead a good life and be law abiding citizens.

https://reflectnigeria.com/2019/08/12/had-someone-exchanged-my-garri-for-cocaine/

Is this a true story??

Copy and paste stay far away...

Carmit:
Is this a true story??

Yes it is. It even happened to a Nairalander

carzola:
Copy and paste stay far away...

Loool, it actually happened to the person that wrote it.

Men dey carry drugs n still succed but I no de talk say na good thing oo

It happened to me. It's my story. It was not garnished. It was at terminal 3 of dubai airport. I'll attach the picture of the baby I mentioned and the football match. I captured the first picture to show my wife and the Everton game to mock united fans.

Second picture

Ok na