According to him, he was ordered to be held at the Nelson Mandela International Airport till the following day for a return flight while he was being coerced several times to sign a document in a language he did not fully understand.
Cape Verde airport officials who brutalised Tunde
A report by SaharaReporters has shown that a Nigerian-American simply identified as Tunde has told of how he suffered terribly in Cape Verde.
The man alleged that he was physically and sexually assaulted by border police officers in Cape Verde for reasons unknown to him.
The man said he had arrived in Santiago for a two-day sight-seeing tour of the island of Santiago but that despite having proof of a confirmed hotel reservation, confirmed return flight ticket, and evidence of $500 in cash plus $5,000 in credit cards, he was denied entry into the country without being offered an explanation.
According to him, he was ordered to be held at the Nelson Mandela International Airport till the following day for a return flight while he was being coerced several times to sign a document in a language he did not fully understand.
He said the police had told him his release was contingent upon signing and that he would be held indefinitely if he failed to do so.
He said as one living with asthma and inflammatory bowel disease, he feared his dietary needs might not be met and had sought consular assistance from the United States consulate in Praia.
Tunde said his request was turned down as the police said his US passport listed his place of birth as Nigeria.
Tunde said he was kept in detention till the following day and when he repeated the request, it attracted the fury of the custodial agent on duty who assaulted him physically and sexually alongside a security man who was with a cudgel.
He said he could count 61 individual blows of the cudgel on him in addition to the physical and sexual assault of the Cape Verde border police officer who rammed his head into a wall.
The assault on him, he claimed, caused him to be hospitalised for days at the Hospital Agostinho Neto on request of the airport medical team.
He wrote, “I am a US citizen with passport number XXX XXX XXX, and I’m seeking consular assistance for an illegal physical and sexual assault I suffered at the hands of Cabo Verde (also Cape Verde) border police. This assault occurred during the night of January 4th/5th, 2021.
“Here is a condensed chronology of that incident: I arrived at or around 12:15 pm on Monday, 4th January, 2021 at the Nelson Mandela International Airport in Santiago on Air Senegal Flight HC 207. I had arrived for a planned 2-day sight-seeing tour of the island of Santiago. In spite of producing a confirmed hotel reservation, a confirmed return flight, and evidence of $500 in cash plus $5,000 in credit cards, I was ultimately denied entry. No justification for this denial of entry was ever communicated to me; not verbally or in writing.
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