Queen Elizabeth once saved me from being detained at UK airport, says Dele Momodu
By Mercy Ajekigbe
Veteran Journalist and publisher of Ovation International, Dele Momodu, has recounted how Queen Elizabeth and Bill Clinton saved him from near detention at Heathrow airport in London. He recounted the incident in a viral video where he was seen interacting with some Nigerian youths.
According to Momodu, the incident occurred while he was travelling to South Africa with a senator. The journalist revealed that special forces were called in to interrogate him after 18 phones were discovered in his bag during a search.
“There was a time I was almost detained at Heathrow because I had 18 phones in my bag. They stopped me while I was going to South Africa”
During the course of the inspection, Momodu disclosed that he was a journalist, prompting the number of phones he had. In response, the officials asked him to provide evidence of his profession.
Momodu explained that, at the time, he had an iPad which contained materials and contacts of prominent figures he had met or interviewed. In a bid to prove his professional standing, he dialed the number of Late Queen Elizabeth II and Former U.S President Bill Clinton.
“People don’t know that name-dropping is part of media work. Who do you know? Who have you interviewed? Who have you met?. I just opened the iPad and the first number I pressed was Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, and the Former U.S President Bill Clinton”
Momodu said that was the only way for a Black man to be released in this situation.
The ordeal, however, did not end there. Customs officers flagged the 18 phones as a “commercial quantity” and took him in for further questioning, where he repeated the same routine.
“They took me to Customs saying 18 phones is a commercial quantity but I said they are all old phones and when we got to Customs the same ritual again. What do you do? I’m a journalist and I brought out my queen again and you know that the queen is the head of Customs in the UK”
He was eventually cleared to leave, although he disclosed that he nearly missed his flight.
