The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has clarified that it neither charged nor banned Comfort Emmanson, the passenger accused of assaulting Ibom Air staff on a flight from Uyo to Lagos.
Speaking on X Space on Monday, Mike Achimugu, the NCAA’s director of public affairs and consumer protection, explained that the authority does not control airline prosecutions, stressing that the court will determine the outcome.
Achimugu noted that the Ibom Air case differs from that of Fuji artiste Wasiu Ayinde, popularly known as KWAM 1, because in the latter case, the NCAA had time to investigate and advise the airline.
On August 5, KWAM 1, who was on a ValueJet flight, was seen drinking from a flask. A flight attendant suspected the contents to be alcohol — a prohibited substance onboard aircraft in Nigeria. The attendant requested that the artiste surrender the flask, but KWAM 1 refused, insisting it was prescribed medication.
After KWAM 1’s refusal, the flight crew deboarded him. He reportedly proceeded to the front of the aircraft in an attempt to stop it from taking off.
On August 7, the NCAA placed KWAM 1 on a six-month no-fly list. The following day, the authority changed this to an indefinite ban pending the outcome of a full investigation.
In Emmanson’s case, Achimugu stressed that the airline acted independently based on the evidence it had.
“In this case, the airline exercised its rights to do what they needed to do, right? And AON, based on some of the evidences already available, because while the investigations are ongoing, you can still be working with what is available to you,” he said.
“Now, for you who say you are in the industry, when you see a passenger hitting a cabin crew member in the way the lady was doing, and the fight she had with the people who came to restrain her, you may have to agree that the airlines had every right to announce a ban.
“Yeah, of course, one would expect that at the end of all of these things, maybe the ban could be shortened or even removed altogether.
“But as of the moment, if they feel that that’s the right thing, because again, don’t forget, airline staff are also human beings, and they’re also fellow Nigerians.
“Some of them are your brothers and your sisters, too. And they deserve the same courtesy that passengers also deserve. Now, nobody deserves to be beaten up or hit in the manner that occurred in this flight.
“Based on video evidence available, AON has made such a decision. It is within their rights, because they also have been suffering some of these incidents a lot of the time.
“Remember, there was an airport incident where three drunk people had mid-air between London and Nigeria, caused a situation that could have crashed that flight.
“To date, Airpeace feels aggrieved that nobody issued an advisory for those passengers to be blacklisted. But you see, evidence of what happened on board was not made available to the NCAA. So it became a case of he said, she said.
“I just want to put it out there very clearly that the NCAA did not issue an advisory to AON, and AON is within its right to ban any passenger, to blacklist a passenger. Just to make this clear.“
Achimugu added that while the airline has the right to seek prosecution, both parties could still agree to settle the matter out of court, which could lead to the withdrawal of the case.
“Cabin crew are in charge of, apart from your comfort, safety and security and everything on the aircraft. We have the authority there. Blocking the path of somebody who has assaulted you is also a form of restraint,” he explained.
“She wanted to restrain the passenger without laying hands on her, she’s within her rights to do so. I don’t know if it’s standard practice.
“I will have to check with director Afsek at the NCAA to check the documents and see. But look, there are different ways to restrain an unruly passenger. Standard practices can always evolve and change.”
Highlighting the different responses in the two incidents, Achimugu said Ibom Air moved quickly to charge Emmanson, while ValueJet did not press charges against KWAM 1, prompting the NCAA to petition the authorities in that case.
Ibom Air announced it had placed a travel restriction on Emmanson for assaulting some of its cabin crew. The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) also placed her on its “no-fly” list for life, describing the incident as “one of the most severe cases of unruly behaviour witnessed this year.”
Emmanson has since been remanded in Kirikiri correctional facility. A magistrate court in Ogba, Lagos, ordered her remand until October 6.