Nigerian man dies during deportation after telling Canadian officials they’d have to carry him like a dead man

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

The deceased, Bolanle Alo aged 49 died 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.

Alo, 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.

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 worked as a taxi driver and was 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).

The man who had 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 are still investigating the cause of his death, even as Alo’s wife is asking for details on the events that led to her husband’s death.