Israel Kristilere, president of the Christian Tourism Practitioner’s Association of Nigeria (CTPAN), the umbrella body of all Christian Pilgrimage Operators in Nigeria, was recently assaulted by Egyptian Police following his stopover alongside other travellers at the Cairo International Airport.
Kristilere, who is the CEO of Oasis of Faith Intercontinental Ltd, and senior pastor of Shepherdhill Baptist Church, Obanikoro, disclosed this in a recent social media post, narrating his experience while travelling alongside 28 other pilgrims to Amman via an Egyptian Air from Lagos.
He stated that upon getting to Egypt for a four-hour stopover, the team was about boarding a connecting flight when the Egyptian Police called him to follow them to their office. However, he was accused of sexually assaulting a lady at the airport.
“I took all my pilgrims to our connecting gate; H2 around 9pm and having set 26 of them there, myself and another woman who were on the trip who were flying Business class left for the business class lounge. We were in that lounge until one hour when I told her to let go back to the gate since I saw a notification that the gate of our connecting flight was open when we arrived,” he stated.
He explained that he had never set his eyes on her; however, he apologised as he was requested to do. According to him, the police insisted he apologise to the lady, which he did, stating that he did not know the lady, and if it was a mistaking identity, he was sorry, and that he did not commit the offence.
Thereafter, they offered a solution and told him to sign a document in Arabic. But he insisted on having the document translated into English. “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.”
According to him, the police chief threatened that he would miss his flight and charged to court when he objected to signing the document.
“As the heated conversation continued, I wrote I do not on the document. The desk manager of the airport came in and spoke to them, and this led to my release.”
However, on getting to the aircraft, he realised that the other 26 co-travellers had refused to enter the plane unless their leader is available to travel with them, leading to his speedy release by the officers.
Kristilere said he is calling out the Egyptian Police because he was traumatised as a result of their unruly attitude towards him. He noted that this is one of the many syndicates in various airports across Africa, and it will be essential to alert other Nigerians, the government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) and travellers to be aware and wary of another antic in the hands of the Egyptian Police.
