NCAA denies involvement in Ibom Air passenger’s detention case

• Ibom Air also denies responsibility for release of viral video showing a passenger in a state of indecent exposure

 

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has clarified its role in two recent passenger incidents, stating that it was not the agency but the airline, Ibom Air, that pressed charges against Ms Comfort Emmanson.

Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Mike Achimugu, explained that the authority only intervenes when necessary and within its mandate.

Achimugu said in the case involving Fuji musician Wasiu Ayinde, better known as K1 De Ultimate, or Kwam 1, “The airline did not activate its right to take the passenger to court. As a result, the NCAA petitioned relevant authorities to prosecute the passenger, issuing an advisory to the Airline Operators of Nigeria to have the passenger banned,” Achimugu said.

However, in the Ibom Air case, where a passenger assaulted the airline’s staff member, he explained that the carrier immediately exercised its right to take up the matter in court.

“Maybe because their staff had been assaulted, the airline immediately activated its right to take up the matter, and it went to court, so the NCAA is not involved in the case of the Ibom Air passenger,” he said.

Achimugu stressed that both cases highlight that the aviation system is being tested and that “there’s enough blame to go around FAAN, AVSEC, cabin crew, passengers.”

He emphasised that unruly behaviour is unacceptable globally and stressed the importance of passengers obeying cabin crew instructions for safety.

He noted that in the Ibom Air incident, other passengers reportedly seized and turned off Emmanson’s phone during the confrontation.

The Airline Operators of Nigeria had prior imposed a no-fly list ban on the passenger Comfort Emmanson aboard the Ibom Air flight inbound Lagos from Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

The AON, in a statement on Monday by its spokesperson, Obiora Okonkwo, imposed a lifetime no-fly ban on Emmanson across all AON member airlines, effective immediately.

The association also warned that similar unruly behaviour would face the same consequences.

In a related development, Ibom Air has denied responsibility for the release of a viral video showing a passenger in a state of indecent exposure during a recent in-flight altercation.

The airline’s Group Manager for Marketing and Communications, Aniekan Essienette, addressed the issue during an interview with TVC News on Monday, clarifying that while the incident occurred on one of their flights, the video was not shared by any Ibom Air staff.

The Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, had ordered sanctions against any Ibom Air staff member found responsible for leaking the footage.

The minister said while filming the incident for use as evidence in court was appropriate, releasing footage containing indecent exposure to the public is “totally unacceptable”.

Speaking on the matter, Essienette said that although the recording was made onboard one of the airline’s aircraft, several people in the area were not Ibom Air employees.

“As much as the video was taken on board, we had several other people who were not Ibom Air employees around the vicinity. So, anyone could have taken that video,” she said.

“I can tell you categorically that the video was not released by us. It is rather unfortunate that it has gone viral.

“We do not condone such indecent exposure, so we would not have been the ones to release it.”

The manager explained that the passenger was forcefully removed from the aircraft after resisting instructions to disembark.

“She had tried to come out earlier, but she was restrained because of some activities that had happened behind the scenes, and eventually, the pilot in command had to call security,” Essienette said.

“For us to ensure that security takes her directly off the plane, our crew had to restrain her for a bit, and we saw what resulted after that happened.”

On the rising cases of disruptive behaviour on flights, she said no airline would “go about their business to humiliate a passenger”.

The Ibom Air official asked the authorities to focus on preventing similar incidents in the future.