The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has clarified that the case involving Comfort Emmanson, the Ibom Air passenger accused of assaulting crew members, is different from that of Fuji musician Wasiu Ayinde, popularly known as KWAM 1.
NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Mike Achimugu, made the distinction during an X Space session on Monday.
He explained that the regulatory body neither instructed Ibom Air to prosecute nor to impose a ban on Emmanson, adding that the airline acted independently based on the evidence available.
“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,” he said.
According to Achimugu, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) acted within its rights, noting that in previous incidents, the absence of evidence limited regulatory action.
“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, Air Peace 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,” he stated.
He further explained that while Ibom Air quickly charged Emmanson to court, ValueJet took no legal action in KWAM 1’s case, prompting the NCAA to petition the authorities.
Achimugu maintained that an airline has the right to pursue prosecution, although such matters can still be settled amicably.
“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.
Tunde Moshood, Special Assistant on Media and Communications to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, disclosed this in a post on X on Monday.
He said there is a need for flight passengers to be careful whenever they are flying.
He wrote, “The more reason the flying public should be more careful, the unruly passenger on Uyo-Lagos bound Ibom Air, Miss Comfort Emmanson has been charged to court and she’s now cooling off in Kirikiri'.
