How Egyptian airport police tried to frame me — Nigerian pastor

Dr. Isreal Kristilere, the President of the Christian Tourism Practitioners Association of Nigeria, has related his experience being mistreated by the Egyptian Airport police.

During his layover at Cairo International Airport on April 30, 2024, the cleric revealed that he had been falsely accused of sexual assault by a woman he had never met or spoken to.

In a video that our correspondent saw online on Monday, Kristilere described his trauma. He said that at the time of the event, he was flying from Lagos to Amman with 28 other pilgrims on Egypt Air.

The pastor, who serves as the Senior Pastor of Shepherdhill Baptist Church in Obanikoro, Lagos, revealed that he was requested to apologise to the woman he was accused of assaulting by the airport police, and that they then attempted to get him to sign a "settlement document" that was written in Arabic.

He claimed that after he refused to sign the document and requested that it be written in a form of English that he could comprehend, he was threatened with legal action.

"On April 30, 2024, I went through a very traumatic experience at Cairo International Airport." The priest recounted his ordeal, saying, "I wonder what they (the airport police) would have achieved if I was travelling alone. There's no doubt that this would have happened to other persons travelling alone."
"I travelled with a group of 28 pilgrims from Lagos to Aman via Egypt Airline. We stopped in Cairo for four hours before continuing on to Aman on the second leg," he continued. Around nine o'clock at night, I brought all of my pilgrims to our connecting gate H2, where I settled twenty-six of them. After that, I headed to the business class lounge with another woman who was travelling in business class.

We stayed in that lounge until an hour before takeoff, at which point I asked her to allow us to return to the gate after noticing that our connecting flight's gate was open. As we arrived, I noticed that the pilgrims were seated and had bypassed the security checks at the gate. When I questioned them about it, they said they tried, but the officials told them to return to their seats so others could go through the inspections first.

"After that, I approached the counter and inquired of a young man I saw there if Aman passengers were still being attended to. As we waited in queue to go through the formalities, I noticed some police officers and airport employees conversing with one another. He confirmed that they were already doing that, so I instructed all the pilgrims to get up and allow us to go through the gate procedures to board our next aircraft.

"I was curious as to what they were discussing. I assumed at first that they were checking our documentation and visas, but after a short while, I was told to move aside and let others handle the security checks. At that point, I knew that my business class companion and I could easily handle our own security checks. I so instructed her to wait for me while the others went through security clearance.

He went on to clarify, saying, "At the time, I still assumed it had to do with our documentation. Some policemen then asked me to follow them to their office." I therefore brought all of the travel-related paperwork with me and requested that 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.
"I started off by asking who, where, when, and how. Then, as I tried to glance in her direction, they pointed to a woman who had chosen to cover her face with another woman. I informed the interpreter that I had never seen the woman so silent when speaking with her. "In our country, we believe the word of any woman as true," the police chief stated, adding, "that means with or without evidence, you are guilty." Then he mentioned that there was video proof. I was relieved to learn that there was video footage, so I asked for it. However, they later informed me that there was no need for it because obtaining it would force me to miss my flight unless I accepted their suggested course of action.

"I made it plain that if they had any video footage, they would not find me there because I had spent three hours at the business lounge and had my friends' word that they would not find me there till we departed for the gate. As soon as they mentioned the presence of a witness, a young man came up and claimed to have seen the assault. He did not respond when I questioned him the where and when.

He claimed that because there was a witness, the police chief insisted that he could only be released if he (Kristilere) approved the answer he would present.

He stated that he was asked to offer an apology to the woman in a way that she would accept, and he inquired as to how he would do so for the things that he did not do.

He stressed that I should face legal action if I did not issue an apology. "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," I said, trying to look in the direction of the woman who was still trying to hide her face behind another woman. "Nevertheless, I apologise to you if you are offended in any way but let it be known that I had no idea of what you are saying."

After asking a man who appeared to be her supervisor if my apologies had been accepted, the police chief went to him and he confirmed it was alright. Then the chief of police told me to leave my carry-on luggage at home and follow him to his office. I opposed to that proposal, stating that it is against airport policy for people to be without their luggage at all times.

It was at this point that I started to suspect that they were planning something. They were attempting to use every strategy to set me up. I was advised to wait outside when we arrived at the other office, and when the police chief and other officers came in, I informed 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 said he picked up his phone to capture their talk for proof because he was unable to understand the Arabic they were speaking.

After a while, he claims, he was called into the office to sign a document that was written in Arabic, but he declined.

He went on, "They threatened to put me in jail if I didn't sign it, but I insisted that I couldn't sign something I didn't know was just a settlement document, so it didn't matter," he added. After becoming irate, the cops threatened to hold me and file charges against me if I missed my flight. I informed him that I would not sign anything unless I understood what was written, but if God said I would go to jail for a crime I did not commit, then so be it.

The interpreter then offered to read the material aloud at my hearing. I informed him that his reading did not seem reliable. They started to put pressure on me, so 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.
The police chief then threatened to cancel my flight if I didn't sign. During that time, the check-in counter's desk manager entered and spoke to them in Arabic. Suddenly, my passport was given to me, and I was asked to be taken to the plane. It wasn't until I arrived to the tarmac that I realised the secret word that affected my release.

"I saw all 27 of my pilgrims standing at the entrance of the aircraft right there at the foot of it. They had refused to board the plane unless their leader was released despite their pilot's threats and entreaties, telling them he would take off without them. I now realise that was my saving grace." That was the report that the airport desk manager presented to the syndicate. They would have been successful if I had been travelling by myself.