The President of the Christian Tourism Practitioners Association of Nigeria President, Dr. Isreal Kristilere, has recounted his ordeal in the hands of the Egyptian Airport police.
The cleric, who was on a stopover at Cairo International Airport on April 30, 2024, explained that they tried to frame him on accusation of sexual assault from a female whom he never met nor interacted with.
Narrating his ordeal in a video seen online by our correspondent on Monday, Kristilere explained that he was travelling with 28 other pilgrims to Amman via Egypt Air from Lagos when the incident happened.
The cleric, who is the Senior Pastor of Shepherdhill Baptist Church in Obanikoro, Lagos, noted that the airport police tried to force him to sign a “settlement document” prepared in the Arabic language after he was asked to apologise to the lady whom the police claimed he assaulted.
He said he was threatened with being charged in court after he refused to sign the document and insisted that the document be written in the English language that he understands.
“I had a very traumatic experience at Cairo International Airport on April 30, 2024. I wonder what they (airport police) would have achieved if I was travelling alone, no doubt this would have happened to other persons travelling alone,” the cleric said while narrating his ordeal.
He added, “I left Lagos for Aman through Egypt Airline with a group of 28 pilgrims and we had a stopover for four hours in Cairo before we boarded the second leg from Cairo to Aman. I took all my pilgrims to our connecting gate H2 around 9 pm and having settled 26 of them there, I and another woman who was on the trip and both flying business class left for the business class lounge.
“We were in that lounge until one hour before our flight when I told her to let us go back to the gate since I saw the notification that the gate of our connecting flight was open. When we got there, I saw the pilgrims seated and not going through the gate security checks. I asked them why and they replied that they tried to but the officials asked them to go back to their seats and allow others to go through the checks first.
“I then went to the counter and asked a young man I saw there if they were not attending to Aman passengers yet. He confirmed that they were already doing that and I told all the pilgrims to rise and let us go through the gate formalities to board our next flight as we lined up to go through the formalities, I saw some policemen and airport staff members discussing together.
“I wondered what they were talking about. Initially, I thought it was about our documentation and visas they wanted to confirm but after a little time, I was told to step aside and allow others to go through the security checks, at that time, I knew we could do our own security checks easily and that’s I and the other woman with me on business class. So I told her to wait for me while others went through their security checks.”
Explaining further, he said, “Some policemen then asked me to follow them to their office and at this time, I still assumed it had to do with our documentation. So, I brought all the documents relating to our trip and asked the woman to wait until I returned to the gate. They (the police officers) then took me to the office of the head of airport police and there police officers entered with me while about 12 others were outside looking at us through the door which was left open. Then the chief police officer asked me if I knew what offence I had committed. I wondered what the offence was and I replied I had not committed any offence, then they brought a man in as an interpreter who told me in English that a lady had just accused me of sexual assault and the punishment was a prison sentence and that I should be ready to go to jail.
“My first comments were who, where, when, and how? Then they pointed to a lady who decided to hide her face behind another lady when I tried to look in her direction. I told the interpreter I had never seen the lady talkless of talking to her. The police chief then said ‘In our country, we believe the word of any woman as true and that means with or without evidence, you are guilty’. He then said there was a video evidence. When I heard there was video evidence, I was relieved and I requested the video evidence, which they later said there was no need for video evidence because it would make me miss my flight unless I agreed to their offered solution.
“I made it clear that if they had any video evidence, they would not find me there for I had been at the business lounge for three hours and I had an alibi among my pilgrims who were there with me in the lounge till we left for the gate. Then they said there was a witness and immediately, a young man came forward who stated that he was a witness to the assault. I asked him where and when but there was no answer from him.”
He said the police chief insisted he could only be freed if he (Kristilere) accepted the solution he would offer since there was a witness.
He sakd he was asked to apologise to the lady in a way that she would accept and he asked how will he apologise for what he did not do.
“He insisted that if I did not apologise, I should be charged to court. I then tried to look in the direction of the lady who was still trying to hide her face behind another lady and I said ‘lady, I have never met you and I have no idea of what you are talking about but possibly, someone else had attacked you and you mistook me for the person, nevertheless, sorry to you if you’re offended in any way but let it be known that I had no idea of what you are saying ‘.
“The police chief then turned to a man who was said to be her boss if my apology had been accepted and he said it was okay. The police chief then said I should follow him to his office and leave my hand luggage behind. I objected to that idea by saying I cannot leave my bag behind because the rule of every airport is that passengers must always be with their luggage.
“Around this time, I began to discern that they were up to something. They were trying to look for every means to set me up. When we got to the other office, I was asked to wait outside and when the police chief and other officers entered, at this time, I told myself that if these people succeeded, there was no way to free myself because I was totally isolated from my pilgrims who were supposed to be boarding their next flight,” he added.
He noted that since he could not understand the conversation they were making in Arabic, he picked up his phone and started recording their conversation for evidence purposes.
According to him, after a while, he was invited into the office to sign a document prepared in Arabic and he refused to sign it.
He continued, “They said if I did not sign it, I would go to jail and they said it didn’t matter because what they wrote was just a settlement document and I insisted I could not sign what I did not know. The police got angry and told me I would miss my flight and he would detain me and charge me in court. I told him if God said I would go to jail for an offence I did not commit, so be it, but I would not sign unless I knew what was written.
“Then the interpreter offered to read the content to my hearing. I told him I could not trust his reading. When they began to pressure me, I took the biro and wrote below the Arabic write-up that I do not know what was written above but I am compelled to sign this document, therefore, I am not aware of the content above. When they saw me writing, one of the officers snatched the biro from me and shouted me down.
“Then, the police chief insisted that if I did not sign, I would miss my flight. While on that, the desk manager of the check-in counter came in and talked to them in Arabic, and like magic, they handed over my passport to me and asked him to take me to the aircraft. I did not understand the magic word that effected my release until I got to the tarmac.
“Right there at the foot of the aircraft, I saw all my 27 pilgrims standing at the entrance of the aircraft and they had refused to board the plane unless their leader was released against all pleas and threats by their pilot who told them he would take off without them, they refused to enter the aircraft and now I know that was my saving grace. That was the report the desk manager brought to the syndicate at the airport. They would have succeeded if I were travelling alone.”