A female passenger accused of assaulting flight officers aboard an Ibom Air flight from Uyo to Lagos, has been charged to court and remanded in Kirikiri Correctional Centre in Lagos.
Comfort Emmanson, the accused passenger, who was on board the Uyo to Lagos flight on Sunday, had appeared in a viral video repeatedly slapping a crew member after she was allegedly told to switch off her phone before take-off.
The airline, in a statement on Monday, recounted the incident while slamming a no-fly ban on the passenger.
Ibom Air said the incident began before take-off from Uyo when Emmanson refused to comply with safety procedures requiring passengers to switch off their mobile phones.
According to the airline, a fellow passenger who was sitting beside her switched off the phone, sparking a verbal tirade.
The carrier said that upon arrival in Lagos, Emmanson confronted the flight purser, who had earlier instructed her to switch off her phone and physically assaulted her.
The airline stated further that she attempted to forcibly remove a fire extinguisher to use as a weapon.
The act was described as “an intention to damage and ground the aircraft”.
Ibom Air added that her behaviour posed a serious threat to the safety of its crew, passengers, and aircraft.
Meanwhile, Tunde Moshood, Special Adviser on Media and Communications to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, confirmed the development in a post on his official X handle on Monday.
“The more reason the flying public should be more careful, the unruly passenger on the Uyo-Lagos bound Ibom Air, Miss Comfort Emmanson, has been charged to court and she’s now cooling off in Kirikiri,” Moshood wrote.
His statement coincided with warnings by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority that stricter enforcement actions would be taken against passengers engaging in disruptive conduct which has been on the rise in Nigerian airports.
