Afolayan apologises to Buhari, Ambode over rants as others share experiences

Following the mixed feelings generated from his now viral video, actor, Aremu Afolayan, has released another video, but this time he is apologising to the government, President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State and others for the harsh words used while venting about his experience with immigration officials at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja.

The younger brother to filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan, could not hide his frustration some days ago as he took to social media to share a video expressing his frustration in the hands of immigration officials.

He wrote yesterday: “I want to say a big thank you to most Nigerians for understanding that there was a need to have “ranted” the way I did. It’s actually for the betterment of the country. I met some wonderful and intelligent immigration officers today. May God bless you for standing for the truth and thanks for educating me on some things I didn’t even know since my existence as a Nigerian.

“I also spoke with the overall Oga of Immigration. Thank you very much sir. My gratitude goes to the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo for putting a call through. This is for the entire security officers of the airport for having me in their office today and speaking to me like a true Nigerian, and I want to say a big thank you to the French Consulate for their support too.

“A big sorry to the chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari and his entire family and another big sorry to the governor of Lagos, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and his entire family. I am sorry to my fans both home and abroad, to my mother and my child and to all my friends for all the harsh words I used while letting my intentions known.”

Meanwhile, more Nigerians have narrated their ordeals in the hands of airport workers at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos after American Cable News Network (CNN) posted the video on its social media handles, asking Nigerians for their opinion on the issue.

Responding to the question on Twitter, eddy @ediological, said: “List of people I bribed the last time at Lagos Airport: Group of uniformed women, a man offering to wheel my box to the counter, another man for weighing my box to ensure “safety”, a janitor when I went to pee, the official where I identified my luggage before taking it on board and the list goes on.”

Rave-making movie director, Kemi Adetiba also narrated her experience in the hands of officials at the airport on her Twitter page yesterday. She wrote: “My flight from Paris was delayed for almost six hours yesterday.

If I thought that was the worst my day could get, I was wrong. I got back into Lagos at about 2:00a.m. and this is where a series of unfortunate events unfolded.

“Going through immigration and picking my luggage was a relative breeze. As I approached customs, I knew all would not be well as I saw a lady’s eyes light up like I was a fowl approaching a den of hyenas. I was still a good distance away when she beckoned for my porter and I pulled aside. Now I had only been gone a week, so I didn’t do any shopping asides a bottle of perfume I had bought for a friend. She asked to open all the bags, but not finding anything, zeroed in the perfume gift and my small travel speakers. She asked I show her an invoice for the speakers. I told her I no longer had it, and asked her why.

“She then led me to a counter where she pulled out a booklet, opened a page, and without showing me what was inside said: “You know we charge duty on items more than N50,000, right?” I said duty on a personal/used item? She starts getting nervous, goes back to the perfume and asks I open it. That was when my patience started to wear thin and I firmly told her I would not open the bottle of perfume as it was a gift.”