Tuesday, August 12, 2025 - The 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has frowned at Nigeria’s judicial system, saying the poor must not be punished while the powerful walk free.
In a post on his official X handle on Tuesday, Obi
apologised to Ibom Air and its crew for the unacceptable conduct of one of
their passengers.
The former Anambra State governor condemned the life ban on
a passenger of Ibom Air, Ms. Comfort Emmanson, from flying for assaulting air
crew.
Obi said the life ban of Ms. Emmanson proved the truth of
Anacharsis’ words that the law is like a spider’s web: it catches the weak,
while the powerful break through with ease.
“This morning, I woke up to learn that the passenger, the
young Ms. Comfort Emmanson in her twenties, has been banned from flying for
life.
There is everything systemically wrong and unjust about this
authoritarian decision. What due process was followed overnight leading to this
sanction? Have we exhausted the avenues of justice and compassionate resolution
on this matter?
It is a tragic irony that a young lady in her twenties can
be banned for life, while we — her parents, commit worse crimes against
humanity and are celebrated; those in positions of authority perpetrate far
greater offences that harm the nation deeply, yet move freely in comfort,
shielded from consequences. In Ms. Emmanson’s case, the authorities acted with
lightning speed, but the same urgency is absent when dealing with the
influential and politically connected.
“If this young woman, who indeed acted wrongly, now seeks to
apologise, who will hear her cry in a country where the pain of the poor is
invisible and the dignity of the less privileged is often disregarded? Justice
must be consistent, or it becomes oppression in disguise,” Obi wrote.
According to him, justice must be equal for all, stressing
that there must be room for compassion, for rehabilitation, and for
understanding when misconduct stems from frustration or displaced aggression.
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