The federal government has taken fresh decisions on cases of unruly conduct involving Ibom Air passenger, Ms Comfort Emmanson, and that of V...
The federal government has taken fresh decisions on cases of unruly conduct involving Ibom Air passenger, Ms Comfort Emmanson, and that of ValueJet, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal (KWAM1), also known as K1 De Ultimate.
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, in a statement on Wednesday, stated that he had conferred with Ibom Air to withdraw criminal charges against the passenger.
Emmanson was involved in an altercation with an Ibom Air air hostess during a Uyo-Lagos flight on Sunday. Several videos on various social media platforms showed the passengers assaulting the crew member while in the process of bundling her out of the plane, exposing sensitive parts of her body.
She was later arraigned and remanded in Kirikiri Maximum Prison, even as the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) slammed a life ban on her.
But her case has drawn the attention of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and other NGOs, who insisted she was not fairly treated.
On the ValueJet’s incident involving KWAM1, a popular Fuji Star, he was also slammed a six-month ban after he refused crew instruction not to travel with the liquid substance he was carrying while he attempted to block the aircraft from taking off.
The pilots of the flight had their licences suspended after the flight departed without completing the pre-departure formalities, while the aircraft almost ran down KWAM1.
The Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun had directed the Commissioner of Police, Airport Command to investigate the incident involving KWAM1.
But providing updates on the two incidents, Keyamo stated that having consulted with critical stakeholders in the sector and those involved in the two unfortunate incidents, some decisions were reached.
On the case of Comfort Emmanson, he said, “I have conferred with Ibom Airline to withdraw the Complaint against her today. When the Police took her Statement in presence of her lawyer, she exhibited great remorse for her conduct.
“Subsequent to the withdrawal of the complaint by the Complainant, the CP of Airport Command and the Police Prosecutor will immediately take the remaining steps to facilitate her release from Kirikiri Prisons within this week.
“I have also conferred with the leadership of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and have appealed to them to lift the life-time flying ban imposed on her, to which they agreed. The details of the resolution will be made public by the AON subsequently.”
On that of KWAM1, the Minister directed the NCAA “to reduce his flight ban to a one-month period.”
He said FAAN would also work with the music star with a view to engaging him as an ambassador for proper airport security protocol going forward.
“Having publicly demonstrated penitence, the NCAA is also to withdraw its criminal complaints against KWAM 1 earlier lodged with the Police,” he added.
On Captain Oluranti Ogoyi, and the co-pilot, First Officer Ivan Oloba of ValueJet whose licences were suspended, he said “the NCAA is to restore their licences after the same period of one-month ban after undergoing some mandatory professional re-appraisal. The details will be announced by the NCAA.”
The minister added that he had directed all relevant Aviation agencies in collaboration with other complementary agencies outside aviation “to IMMEDIATELY begin a retreat NEXT WEEK to properly retrain and prepare our Aviation security personnel on how to deal with errant and disruptive passengers and how to deescalate potentially explosive situations. The retreat will be fully covered by the Press with the opportunity to ask all the relevant questions.”
“The Airlines will also have their own session when the conduct and attitude of their staff towards members of the travelling public will be in full focus,” he said.
Keyamo noted that in the two incidents which he described as unfortunate, “valuable lessons have been learnt by all sides to these incidents and airport security protocol, especially, have been well highlighted for the travelling public.”
He added, “If nothing at all, the episodes have undoubtedly helped to raise public awareness about appropriate conduct within the aviation space.
“As highlighted in my previous statements on the last two incidents, clear wrongs were committed by both the offending passengers and staff of the airlines involved, from all the evidence available to us and that available to the public. All the actors involved cannot continue to highlight the injury or injustice done to them without acknowledging their own equal culpability,” Keyamo stated.
According to him, the above decisions were taken by the government and the airline operators purely on compassionate grounds. He noted that the government would never pander to base sentiments, politically-motivated views or warped legal opinions when clear encroachment of laws are involved.
“We are also sending a CLEAR MESSAGE that we take safety and security in the aviation sector very seriously and we have decided to draw a line after these clemencies,” he added.
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