Tuesday, August 12, 2025 - Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, has ordered the arrest and sanctioning of airport officials who released video containing the indecent exposure of Ibom air unruly passenger, Comfort Emmanson.
Earlier today, a video of Emmanson being dragged out of the
aircraft made the rounds on social media. The trending video showed the moment
her top was ripped off, exposing her boobs.
In a statement released this evening, Keyamo said while her
actions stand condemned, the release of the video containing indecent exposure
of Ms Emmanson is unacceptable. He mentioned that he has directed that whoever
released the distasteful video amongst the staff should be singled out and
adequately sanctioned.
His statement reads
''ENOUGH IS
ENOUGH: READING THE RIOT ACT ON AVIATION SAFETY AND SECURITY IN REFERENCE TO
THE CASE OF UNRULY MS. COMFORT BOB ON IBOM AIRLINE AND RELATED INCIDENTS
Earlier
today, we again woke up to viral videos of a female passenger on Ibom Airline
(now identified as Ms. Comfort Emmanson or Comfort Bob) who went berserk and
physically assaulted both the flight crew and the ground staff. The incident
took place yesterday, August 10, 2025 on Ibom Airline Flight No. Q153 from Uyo
to Lagos at about 14:54 hours. Ibom Airline has since issued a statement to
provide some context to the effect that the whole unfortunate incident arose
because of the refusal of the passenger to switch off her phone during take off
as required by extant International Civil Aviation Regulations.
Consequently,
in the last few hours, I have been speaking with the Commissioner of Police of
the Airport Police Command, the DG of the NCAA and his team, the MD of FAAN and
her team, the COO of Ibom Air and his team about the incident.
Apart from
the indefinite flight ban imposed on the said unruly passenger (both local and
international)
by the
Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) the Police has promptly arraigned her
this morning at the Ikeja Magistrates Court for criminal offences and remanded
her at Kirikiri Prisons as she could not provide adequate sureties in court. I
have attached the Charge Sheet and Remand Order for clarity.
We also note
the scuffle that took place between the unruly passenger and ground personnel
before she was eventually subdued. This was because of her uncooperative
attitude. Whilst we support the filming of her recalcitrant behaviour as
evidence to prosecute her, what is DEPLORABLE is to release such evidence
containing indecent exposure to the public to ridicule her. That is TOTALLY
UNACCEPTABLE to us. We will not fold our arms and tolerate the debasing of
womanhood. I have therefore directed that whoever RELEASED that part of the
video containing the indecent exposure amongst the staff should be singled out
and adequately sanctioned.
I have also
directed that the airlines must continue to train and retrain their staff in
public relations and how to deal with potentially explosive situations in order
to diffuse them promptly or nip them in the bud, except when it becomes
inevitable. I have also directed a joint security meeting between relevant
agencies next week for better coordination of security measures in situations
like this or similar ones we witnessed recently.
For
genuinely aggrieved passengers, there are clearly laid-down remedies to address
grievances. The Consumer Protection Directorate of the NCAA has consistently
advertised these remedies and there is no point trying to take the laws into
one’s hands that may lead to dire consequences.
We will
continue to apply equal sanctions available to us in Aviation on any such
erring passengers, that is lengthy flight bans and report the matters to other
law-enforcement agencies to do their bit within their powers.''
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