Eight Annoying Questions Nigerian Airport Officials Ask International Travellers

Travelling out of Nigeria can be herculean. Sometimes, not because
you've got your documentation wrong, but the silly profiling officials
at the airport try to make you go through at every desk. Everyone you
meet turns himself into some sort of detective profiling you for drugs
or terrorism, or just to strike a conversation upon which you would be
asked to tip them. Because travellers are usually pressed for time,
one tries to avoid confrontations that would cause delays on any
counter. Workers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja
are particularly notorious for these, subjecting travellers to
annoying profiling.

At the Abuja airport, there is no clear distinction of roles for
officials. The attendant who would screen your bag asks you almost the
same set of questions as the one who would screen your passport or
frisk you before you enter the departure lounge. It appears it is
every official's job to collect information from the traveller.

Here are some of the most common silly questions I have been asked
repeatedly, especially in Abuja. Most times, these attendants ask
these question with a seriousness that instantly convinces you of the
genuineness and the right to know. I really do not see the reason for
most of these questions. I am usually amused when I hear some of them.


1. Where are you going to?
I suppose every traveller using the airport has a destination written
on their ticket or other travel documents. If the final destination of
a traveller has any use for airport attendants, why don't they just go
ahead and ask for tickets or boarding passes?
Sometimes you even get this question after you have handed in your
travel documents. The funny thing with this question is that the
officials asking do not intend to document the answers in any way; and
if a traveller gives the wrong answer, they never bother to
crosscheck. Maybe they ask so as to break the ice with you.

2. When are you coming back?
This question usually comes after you have provided a destination. The
question makes me feel the asking officials either think I'm running
away or are already missing my stay in Nigeria. How does when I am
returning from my journey enhance national security or make the
airport more efficient? What if I give a date and change my mind
later?

3. What is in your bag? Let me see.

There are usually many things in a travellers bag. From clothing to
accessories and gadgets. How do I start listing that there is a
toothpaste, a bathing soap, a deodorant, cloths, charger, papers etc.?
The annoying thing with this question is that after listing all you
can remember is stacked in your bag, the asking official goes ahead to
say "open it let me see." Whenever I hear this question, I usually
just drop my bag and open it. Security officials should just cut the
chase and demand to see the content of my bag.

4. Are you on leave?

This is the most amusing question I have ever been asked. Really? How
does my being on leave, or not, bother an airport official? I mean, I
must say, this is the dumbest. After telling the guy who asked me that
question, recently, I was not on leave, I asked to know how the answer
helped his job. He instantly grew a stone face, evaded eye contacts
and said he wouldn't have asked if the question wasn't necessary.

5. Who are you going to see?

Do travellers always have to be going to see someone? Can't one just
travel for fun or business or even to go chill? Sometimes I just want
to answer: I am going to see my grandfather's friend's daughter's maid
who recently fell from the moon during a vacation. 6. Are you back?
The confusion on my face most times when I get this question from an
immigration or customs officer at airports is usually epic. Would the
asker have seen me if I wasn't back? Sometimes I just nod and move on.

6. Are you back?

The confusion on my face most times when I get this question from an
immigration or customs officer at airports is usually epic. Would the
asker have seen me if I wasn't back? Sometimes I just nod and move on.


7. How much are you travelling with?

This question is particularly asked with mischief in mind. To be
clear, only the Customs officials at the airport are entitled to know
how much money you have on you. And for that, a form is always
provided. First time travellers usually fall victim of this question.
An attendant asking this question usually intends to convince the
victim it is illegal to travel with the amount declared, with a
promise to let it pass if a tip is paid. Meanwhile, unless you are
smuggling cash (and ordinary traveller's rarely do), most people
travel with credit cards. The irony is that the people who smuggle
cash are never asked questions, they get VIP pass. It is difficult to
connect the dots between how funded you are for trip and the optimal
performance of the airport.

8. Where do you work?

This one, you must surely hear several times if you use the Nnamdi
Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. It is almost like the go-to
question for attendants. When I hear this question, often I wonder
"are there offices whose employees are not allowed to leave the
country?" Or has the law blacklisted employees of some companies from
travelling? Your answer to this question is usually followed by "show
me you ID card." I once asked an attendant who claimed to be working
for the drug law enforcement agency why this mattered to them, and he
said drug traffickers would be inconsistent. I perceived his answer as
lame. Anyone can claim an office and forge its ID. What if a traveller
is unemployed? Would you stop her?




Have you been profiled in any airport across the world? Share your experience


source: http://www.nairaland.com/2641041/eight-annoying-questions-nigerian-airport

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