The spokesperson of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Michael Achimugu, has asked passengers on same flight with “unruly” Ibom air passenger to come forward with their version of what transpired.
In a post shared on X this morning, Achimugu said this is in the interest of justice and fairness as it is necessary to hear both sides of the story.
The passenger, Comfort Emmanson, was accused of attacking the air hostess after she insisted that Comfort turned off her phone before the plane took off.
Some people have however argued that the air hostess might have riled her up, causing Ms Comfort to act irrationally.
Read Achimugu’s post below
‘’Any person who was a passenger on that Ibom Air Uyo-Lagos flight (IAN513) and witnessed the events that led to the fracas should, as a matter of urgency and fairness, reach out to me via DM or michael.achimugu@ncaa.gov.ng
Once verified that you were actually a passenger on that flight, we can discuss and try to understand other perspectives to this issue.
In the interest of justice and fairness, it is necessary to hear both sides of the story.
Of course, this does not negate the exhibition of unruly behaviour and its ramifications, but it will ensure that every other person who was culpable down the line is held accountable.
We will also be sending our officers in Lagos on a fact-finding mission to the police and other security personnel who were part of the entire chain of events.
Finally, one hopes that lessons are learned from all of these events and that the necessary adjustments and improvements are implemented by all stakeholders; passengers, airline staff, aviation security, etc.
It is a test for the system. No matter how fine regulations are, human behaviour will always be unpredictable. When these events occur, we are able to see the gaps and pluck loopholes.
At the end of it all, the message remains the same; IN AVIATION, IT IS SAFETY FIRST, SAFETY SECOND, AND SAFETY THIRD.”
