The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has clarified that it neither charged nor banned Comfort Emmanson, the passenger accused of assaulting Ibom Air crew members during a flight from Uyo to Lagos.

Speaking during an 𝕏 Space session on Monday, the NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Mike Achimugu, stated that the authority does not dictate airline prosecutions, emphasising that the courts will determine the outcome.

Achimugu explained that the Ibom Air case was handled differently from that of Fuji musician Wasiu Ayinde, popularly known as KWAM 1, because NCAA had the opportunity to investigate the latter before advising the airline.

On August 5, KWAM 1, while onboard a ValueJet aircraft, was approached by a flight attendant who suspected the flask he was drinking from contained alcohol, which is prohibited on Nigerian flights. The artist reportedly refused to surrender the flask, claiming it contained prescribed medication.

Following his refusal, the crew deboarded him after he allegedly attempted to block the aircraft from taking off. On August 7, the NCAA placed him on a six-month no-fly list, which was later changed to an indefinite ban pending investigation.

In Emmanson’s case, Achimugu said Ibom Air acted based on evidence already available to them.

He said, “In this case, the airline exercised its rights to do what they needed to do, right? And AON, based on some of the evidence already available, because while the investigations are ongoing, you can still be working with what is available to you.

“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.”

Possible Settlement Still Open – Achimugu

While Ibom Air has chosen to prosecute Emmanson, Achimugu noted that parties could still reach an out-of-court settlement, which might lead to the case being withdrawn.

On the role of cabin crew, he explained that they are responsible not only for passenger comfort but also for safety and security.

He added, “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.”

Achimugu concluded by noting that Ibom Air promptly charged Emmanson to court, while ValueJet did not press charges against KWAM 1, prompting the NCAA to petition the authorities in that case.