• We Don’t Want War For NIHOTOUR Certification, All We Want Is Justice For Our Staff — Federal Palace Hotel & Casino GM
• Alleged Brutality Under Investigation, Legal Steps Will Be Taken If Necessary — Ukekwe

Rather than improving on the standard met in the industry, the Director General of National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Dr. Abisoye Fagade, may have begun what some consider a mockery of hospitality industry.

On Wednesday, June 11, 2025, a posse of policemen and NIHOTOUR staff, led by the Head, Inspection & Enforcement, Ibe Johnking Chinaza, imposed a lockdown on the operation of the Federal Palace Hotel & Casino, Victoria Island Lagos, disrupting activities in the hotel via acts of thuggery, harassment and bullying of staff of the hotel, which eventually led to the brutalisation and loss of sight of the hotel security guard, Ahmed Bello.

Speaking to The Guardian, the General Manager, Federal Palace Hotel & Casino located on 6-8 Ahmadu Bello Way Victoria Island Lagos, Herman Brits, said: “Ahmed Bello was doing his job as one of the security personnel of the hotel by trying to shield/protect me with his hands when the NIHOTOUR team and accompanied policemen attempted to hit and roughen me up when I came out of my office to find out why they were disrupting activities and creating chaos and commotion in the hotel. They had blocked the main entrance of the hotel so people couldn’t come in.

“At that stage, our security surveillance manager took their demand to pay N2.5million and he went to the finance department. He started to process the payment for the N2.5million ransom or whatever the money was really for, as my understanding is that the registration was for certification, so, it was and still hard to comprehend what NIHOTOUR’s perversity was all about.

“I approached one of the NIHOTOUR officials and I said if you’re doing certification of personnel in the industry, why are you blocking access to our property? On what authority would you do that? And he said we have not complied with government regulations. I said okay let me go and see what they are doing in the finance department, and that was when they blocked me and blocked the door so I could not go into the finance department. They started pulling me back, wanting to take me out of the building, I then said ‘don’t touch me’ but both the policemen and NIHOTOUR team surrounded me and blocked movement. They started pulling me again and that was when our security guard, Ahmed Bello, said “don’t touch him, get off him and the Police officers grabbed and began to manhandle him. They handcuffed him, eventually and took him into their vehicle. It was all captured in the CCTV footage. While he was handcuffed inside their vehicle, the police officers proceeded to punch him vigorously with an object in the face inside the vehicle and that was when they hit his eye and damaged it. He was eventually taken to the General Hospital, Marina, for treatment. It was at the hospital that we were told he would not be able to see with that sight again as it has been badly damaged,” Brits narrated in dismay.

“Despite that, they insisted on the payment of N2.5m for non-compliance with hotel staff registration – they said we must pay immediately or they would shut down the hotel and we paid them immediately.”

The GM further said: “We are a member of the Hotel Owners and Managers Association of Lagos (HOMAL) and before this incident, there had been a court case pending between NIHOTOUR and HOMAL. The court did not grant any injunction to HOMAL against NIHOTOUR, but the parties were advised by the court to maintain their current position. The NIHOTOUR position is far from the truth. The court already cautioned NIHOTOUR through the lawyers to refrain from taking any action that could embarrass HOMAL members, yet NIHOTOUR flouted. So, is this injustice and brutality because we are HOMAL members?”

Responding to The Guardian, the Director, Inspection and Enforcement Directorate, Chike Ukekwe, said: “It is a standard operational protocol for federal enforcement exercises to be accompanied by law enforcement officers. This is solely to maintain order, ensure compliance, and protect both NIHOTOUR officials and the staff of host establishments. Regrettably, during the visit to Federal Palace Hotel & Casino, a physical altercation occurred after a staff member reportedly tore the attire of a police officer, leading to provocation. The incident is currently under review and appropriate disciplinary and legal steps will be taken if necessary. NIHOTOUR does not condone violence and insists on professionalism and mutual respect in all field engagements.”

Ukekwe also said: “Contrary to some claims, the NIHOTOUR team did not shut down the hotel or halt its operations. The team was on site to conduct inspection, verification, and enforcement procedures as mandated by law.”

He said: “Regarding the alleged payment of ₦2.5 million and ₦100,000 by Federal Palace Hotel & Casino, it is important to clarify that: No valid payment was made. During the visit, the hotel’s representatives initiated a transfer, which was later found to be invalid or unfulfilled, a dud transaction. This raised serious concerns and is currently under formal scrutiny. The applicable fees referenced are stipulated penalties for non-compliance as outlined in NIHOTOUR’s regulatory framework: ₦2.5 million is the established non-compliance fee for large-scale operators who fail to comply after multiple official notifications. ₦100,000 is a processing and documentation fee for temporary compliance paperwork, where applicable. These amounts are standard, not arbitrarily imposed, and only arise where operators fail to comply voluntarily despite multiple warnings.”

Brits, however, is not happy that “at the end of the day, after brutalising our staff, we were still compelled to pay the N2.5million. We didn’t just pay N2.5million, we were forced to pay another N100,000 for a slight cut at the down edge of the shirt of one of NIHOTOUR men who claimed that Bello tore his shirt while resisting them from manhandling me.”

He continued, “contrary to NIHOTOUR’s narrative to some online news platforms, the man who claimed that Bello tore his cloth was not putting on police uniform; he was on shirt and trousers without any indication that he is a policeman. Also, he was not stripped. He had his shirt and trousers on – even the slight cut at the edge of the shirt he claimed Bello was responsible for would not show if it were tucked in. Still, we were forced to pay N100, 000 for the cut on the shirt which he could have possibly worn like that from home. We paid a total sum of N2.6million and the damaged eyesight of our staff for NIHOTOUR registration. Bello is the one who suffered most in all these as he would carry this brutality and dehumanisation by NIHOTOUR for the rest of his life.”

“We don’t want war for certification, we want justice for our staff Bello,” Brits noted, adding that “There was no need for bringing in the police into our property as though we were criminals. The DG could have sent his secretary or peaceful team to tell us that we have not complied with the registration of personnel and let us know what is expected of us without staging violence act on our property.”

Stakeholders are, however, worried how hospitality business will grow in Nigeria. They wondered what is the correlation between registering personnel in the tourism and hospitality industry and disrupting, and lockdown of business activities of the hotel? What exactly is the crime the hotel committed that warranted NIHOTOUR unscrupulous scene at the hotel over registration of personnel in the industry? Why did the NIHOTOUR boss Fagade think it was necessary to deploy police to hotels based on non-compliance with staff registration? Why did he think that the only way to get stakeholders of the hospitality industry where serenity; and civility is the foundation, pillar and pole of the sector to comply with his registration of personnel policy was through force and acts of thuggery? Register your hotel personnel or die? Are there no civil ways to get the hotels to comply without what is being tagged by stakeholders as a show of shame and ridicule? And why is the non-compliance of registration of personnel as much as N2.5m? What is the relationship between registering personnel and N2.5million?

These are the questions by stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality industry which the NIHOTOUR boss Fagade has suddenly turned into a “war zone of register or die within a period of seven months of his appointment as DG, with a long three years and five months yet to go in his tenure. Will this industry survive this mockery where one of the eyes of a stakeholder is already damaged over non-compliance of registration of personnel?”