EXCLUSIVE: Nigerian Man Detained For Six Weeks, Humiliated In Qatar Over Mannequin Mistaken For Drugs, Lawyers Demand Redress

In a shocking case of wrongful profiling, a Nigerian business analyst, Onyedika Ezeh, onboard Qatar Airways was detained for six weeks in Qatar, stripped, humiliated, and falsely labelled a drug trafficker after Qatari security officials at Hamad International Airport mistook decorative stones inside a hair mannequin for narcotics, following a transit stop in Doha.

The incident, which occurred on May 7, 2025, has not only left Ezeh with severe psychological trauma but has also led to the destruction of his marriage, devastating revocation of his and his wife's United States visas, and abrupt disruption to his wife's PhD programme at Baylor University in Texas.

The allegations are contained in a pre-action legal notice issued by his lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, and addressed to the airline’s Abuja office. 

The document details an ordeal that began when Ezeh, travelling from Abuja to Dallas, Texas, to visit his wife, was stopped during a routine security check at Hamad International Airport. 

Ezeh had packed a mannequin head, purchased from a market in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, in his carry-on luggage. He intended to use the mannequin to practice how to braid his wife's hair as a gesture of affection.

During a temporary stopover security check in Hamad International Airport, the mannequin was flagged. Multiple tests were conducted on the item, which returned negative for narcotics. 

The mannequin was dismantled, revealing only small white decorative stones that are weighted supports usually added in these products by the manufacturers for added balance. Following the negative narcotics field tests, these stones were examined and confirmed by an airport jeweller to be valueless and chemically inactive.

Despite the clear evidence of innocence, Qatari security personnel escalated the situation. 

“Nigerians are always causing trouble,” one of the airport security officers remarked.

Ezeh was detained, his passport and phone seized, and his checked luggage forcibly removed from the aircraft and searched twice. Nothing illegal was reportedly found. 

This event also brings to mind a somewhat similar forceful and demeaning searching of Australian women in Hamad International Airport, just five years ago, a case for which justice is still being sought.

"Mr Ezeh was thereafter handcuffed behind his back, driven in a black vehicle, and taken to a detention facility called Duhaill, under the pretext of a 'final test," the legal document stated.

At the detention centre, Ezeh was reportedly subjected to a degrading strip search. 

"He was stripped completely naked, ordered to jump, squat, and cough, while a device was passed around his genitals and anus," the petition detailed. Again, nothing incriminating was found on his person.

In a brazen act of misconduct, authorities then compelled the detained and vulnerable Nigerian to sign a report written entirely in Arabic, which falsely declared the harmless stones were "cocaine stones."

This false document triggered catastrophic consequences. Ezeh was detained by Qatari officials, with the claim that the stones for which field narcotics tests were negative still needed to be sent for lab forensic analyses. 

While such a decision may not be too jarring, it was certainly shocking that the forensic analyses took a period of six weeks, and Ezeh had to be remanded the entire time. 

Even more shockingly, during his detention, the airport report alleging the stones were “cocaine” was circulated, and the United States government revoked his visa on May 12, 2025, without a material investigation or even hearing his side of the incident. 

Later, his wife, a PhD student at Baylor University, Texas, also had her visa revoked, forcing an abrupt and painful halt to her academic programme.

"The allegation was not only baseless but also malicious and clearly intended to tarnish the reputation of Mr. Ezeh without justification," the legal notice read. 

"This reckless and defamatory action directly triggered the revocation of his and his wife's United States visas."

Ezeh was reportedly held for six weeks without charge. 

He was presented before a Qatari judge virtually and repeatedly promised release, which never came. 

He was reportedly confined in a smoke-filled cell, causing him respiratory distress, while his family in Nigeria, unaware of his whereabouts, reportedly believed he was dead.

This reportedly caused his mother panic attacks and hospitalization and his wife in the U.S. was left in agonizing uncertainty. 

Interestingly, he also recounts that during his detention, he heard from fellow inmates that such falsification of reports was not uncommon, as some airport security officials would submit that to score extra promotion points!

Following the conclusion of the six-week-long forensic analyses, the Nigerian embassy in Doha was informed that the lab returned negative results for narcotics. 

Ezeh was finally released at midnight on June 19, 2025, and abandoned in Doha without money or means of communication to contact the Nigerian embassy. 

While he was still in detention, Qatar Airways compounded his ordeal by issuing a travel ban on May 20, citing "unacceptable conduct," an allegation Ezeh vehemently denies. 

Although the ban was lifted on November 30, 2025, the airline's communication maintained an insinuation of past misconduct, which his lawyers demand be retracted.

Subsequently, a definitive clearance finally came from the Qatari government itself. In an official document dated June 23, 2025, signed by Ahmed Ali Al Sulaiti, Head of Drugs Prosecution, the state confirmed there was "no criminal prosecution due to lack of a crime”, stating that the items seized from him should be returned and the matter publicized to all concerned parties.

His lawyers are now demanding an immediate redress from Qatar Airways, including an unconditional withdrawal of all allegations of misconduct, retraction of the travel ban, a refund of his unused connecting flight to Dallas, and a formal clarification to US authorities to restore the couple’s visas.

They also demand compensation for the physical, psychological, reputational, and financial damages they suffered. Qatar Airways has been given 14 days to respond or face legal action.

"Should Qatar Airways fail to respond or address this matter within 14 days of receipt, we shall be left with no option but to pursue appropriate legal and diplomatic remedies," the notice concluded.

Ezeh’s lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, confirmed that he has submitted petitions to the US Consul-General in Nigeria, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Although Qatar Airways has not yet issued any public response to the claims. 

This case highlights the severe repercussions of racial profiling and procedural abuse in international travel, leaving a young Nigerian family's life and dreams in ruins over a mannequin head and a handful of stones. 

The incident raises critical questions: Why do reports of human rights abuses at Hamad International Airport persist? How can Qatar Airways ensure safer transit for its passengers? What steps can trusted institutions, such as the US Embassy, take to verify claims and prevent the spread of false reports driven by profiling or personal gain? Most importantly, how are Nigerian authorities protecting their citizens from the mistreatment reportedly linked to Qatar Airways, and what measures exist to prevent such dehumanizing experiences, like those endured by Ezeh and his family, from happening again?