ABUJA – The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has clarified that it did not charge or ban Comfort Emmanson, the passenger who assaulted 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, said the authority does not dictate airline prosecutions, and the court will decide the outcome.
Achimugu said the Ibom Air case is different from that of Wasiu Ayinde, a Fuji artiste also known as KWAM 1, as NCAA had time to investigate and advise the airline.
On August 5, KWAM 1, who was onboard a ValueJet plane, was seen drinking from a flask and was approached by a flight attendant who suspected that the content was alcohol — a substance prohibited onboard aircraft in Nigeria.
The artiste was asked by the attendant to surrender the flask, but KWAM 1 refused, saying it was medication prescribed by his doctor.
TheCable understands that following his refusal to give up the flask, the flight crew deboarded the celebrity, who proceeded to the front of the aircraft in an attempt to prevent it from taking off.
On August 7, the NCAA placed KWAM 1 on a no-fly list for six months, but the next day, the authority changed it to an indefinite ban pending the outcome of a full investigation.
In the Ibom Air case, Achimugu said the airline acted independently based on available evidence.
“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.“
‘PARTIES MAY SETTLE OUT OF COURT’
Achimugu said while the airline has the right to pursue prosecution, parties can still settle out of court if they agree, allowing for possible 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.”
He noted the difference in approach, saying Ibom Air swiftly charged Emmanson, while ValueJet did not charge Kwam 1, prompting the NCAA to petition authorities in the latter case.
Ibom Air said it has imposed a travel restriction on the female passenger for assaulting some of its cabin crew members.
The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) also placed Emmanson on its “no-fly” list for life over what it described as “one of the most severe cases of unruly behaviour witnessed this year”.
Emmanson has reportedly been remanded in Kirikiri correctional facility.
A magistrate court in Ogba, Lagos, ordered the remand of the passenger in the correctional centre until October 6.