The Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Michael Achimugu, has appealed for information on the whereabouts of a 37-year-old Nigerian woman who has reportedly been unreachable since arriving in Doha, Qatar.
The woman travelled from Lagos to Doha on Qatar Airways flight QR1408 on Tuesday and was said to have last communicated with her family through WhatsApp shortly before the aircraft landed.
Achimugu said on Saturday that the airline had reviewed CCTV footage, which confirmed that the woman arrived safely in Doha, collected her luggage and left the airport terminal.
He said, “I have confirmed, via the airline, that CCTV shows your sister arrived safely, picked her bags, and exited the terminal.”
According to him, further checks would be carried out to establish whether the woman later arrived at the hotel she had booked before her trip.
Achimugu said the process had been delayed by the public holidays but was expected to determine whether she reached the hotel and if she used the hotel’s pick-up vehicle to get there.
He explained that every Qatar visa booking must be linked to a specific hotel reservation, adding that Discover Qatar would verify the hotel details and confirm whether the woman checked in.
“In some cases, passengers arrive at the hotel booked, and then leave quietly. DISCOVER QATAR will check to confirm the name of her hotel, and whether your sister did, indeed, get to the hotel,” Achimugu said.
The NCAA official also said he had informed the airline of concerns about possible human trafficking and forced labour, adding that confirmation from the hotel would help determine the next course of action.
He said, “If she did not arrive at the hotel, a manhunt would ensue. It is easy to track people once they have arrived in Doha.”
Achimugu, however, clarified that the matter was outside his official responsibilities, noting that he was only assisting the family.
The woman’s brother, Jonathan Jibo (#DigitalworldB), had raised the alarm in a post on X on Friday, saying he had been unable to reach his sister for more than 48 hours.
Jibo said the woman was travelling to Doha for the first time and had no friends in the country, adding that her accommodation had been arranged and paid for months before her trip.
He said the person assigned to pick her up from the airport had waited for her but was unable to find her, despite being informed by the airline that she had collected her luggage.
Jibo said his sister had worked at Lagos airport for almost 12 years and was expected to resume work in Doha weeks after her arrival.
He wrote, “Till now I can’t reach her phone, online, I don’t even know what went wrong.”
He also appealed to the Nigerian Embassy in Doha and other authorities to assist in tracing her.
In a further update on Saturday, Jibo said his sister’s details had been forwarded to the Nigerian President in Doha and subsequently to the Nigerian Embassy in Qatar.
He said the family expected to receive an update from the embassy on Monday, noting that the embassy does not operate on weekends.
The family is awaiting the outcome of the checks to determine whether the woman arrived at her booked hotel and what happened after she left the airport terminal.