Nigerian Man who died During Deportation from Canada had told Officials: “You’ll have to carry me like a dead man”

Bolanle Idowu Alo

Detention hearing documents have shown that a Nigerian man/deportee who died aboard a flight to Amsterdam, told Canadian border officials that they’ll have to “carry” him “like a dead man” before he goes back to Nigeria.

Bolanle Alo, 49, according to Kenzie Wingert, legal counsel to Canada’s minister of public safety and emergency preparedness Ralph Goodale, said: “You will have to carry me like a dead man, because I’m not going to my death”

According to The Star Calgary, the documents were submitted on July 26, Alo’s first hearing which took place 48 hours after his detention.

Alo passed on August 7th, after an altercation with officials of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on a flight. He was said to have gone into medical distress while the plane was still at the airport, and pronounced dead at a hospital 90 minutes later.

Wingert drew attention to two statements made by Alo during his detention:

“On that day (of deportation), I will be the dog on a leash, and you will have to drag me through fire. I am a dead man. I have nothing to lose,” Wingert quoted Alo as saying.

In a second statement, Wingert quoted Alo as saying: “I understand that you have concerns that I will cause an issue that will disrupt my removal. You are absolutely correct about this. I will cause a big issue and will not go.”

Alo, who works as a taxi driver and is training to become a long-haul truck driver had been in detention because his application for refugee status had been rejected.

The Star Calgary said that both of Alo’s applications to remain in Canada based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds were rejected, as was his pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA).

Alo, who has been in Canada since 2005 often told border officials that going back to Nigeria was dangerous for him

“I (am) always insisting that going to Nigeria would be a very dangerous trip for me … I still have some bullets in my body that are yet to be extracted,” he was quoted as saying.

He added that his younger brother “wasn’t that lucky.”

Police is still investigating the cause of his death, and Alo’s wife is asking for details on the events that led to her husband’s death.

Photo Credit: Facebook – Bolanle Alo