Veteran journalist, media entrepreneur and publisher of Ovation International Magazine, Chief Dele Momodu, has recounted a dramatic encounter at Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom in which he was nearly detained after security officials discovered 18 mobile phones in his bag.
Momodu shared the story in a video that began circulating on social media on Tuesday, during a discussion about his longstanding habit of carrying multiple phones. He noted that he currently uses about six phones, some with dual SIMs, and keeps others in reserve.
According to the account, the incident occurred while he was travelling to South Africa in the company of a senator. Airport officials stopped him, questioned the large number of devices, and summoned special forces personnel, who placed all 18 phones in a tray for inspection.
“There was a time I was almost detained at Heathrow Airport. I had 18 phones in my bag,” Momodu said. “When they stopped me, they said, ‘Where are you going?’ I was going to South Africa with the senator… And then they just called the special force to come and put all the phones in a tray. And they were asking me, ‘What do you do for a living?’ I said, ‘I’m a journalist.’ ‘Is that why you are carrying 18 phones?’ I said, ‘I didn’t read anywhere that I can’t carry 18 phones.’”
When officials demanded proof of his profession, Momodu produced an iPad and resorted to name-dropping. “People don’t know that name-dropping is part of the media. Who do you know? Who have you interviewed? Who have you met? I just opened the iPad and the first person I pressed was Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Then I brought out President Clinton. That’s the only way a black man would have an air,” he recalled.
Officials then directed him to Customs, classifying the 18 phones as a commercial quantity. Momodu insisted they were all old devices. At Customs the same questioning resumed. He again displayed the contact of Queen Elizabeth II, noting that “the Queen is the head of the Customs in England.” The officers eventually cleared him, though he and his travel companion nearly missed their flight.