A female passenger, Comfort Emmanson, on an Ibom Air flight from Uyo to Lagos assaulted the airline’s crew and clashed with airport security at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos on Sunday.
In one video, the flight attendant is heard saying, “She (the passenger) slapped me.”
Another clip shows airport security bundling the passenger into a vehicle after repeated attempts to calm her failed.
Reacting to one of the videos on X, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Mr. Michael Achimugu, said:
“When cabin crew ask you to turn off your phone before takeoff or landing, simply comply. I cannot understand why routine requests escalate into incidents like this. Passengers need to understand they have responsibilities, not just rights. More details will be addressed tomorrow.”
Ibom Air, in a statement confirming the incident, said that shortly before take-off from Uyo, the passenger, identified as Emmanson, was instructed to switch off her mobile phone but refused.
According to the airline, she only complied after the pilot-in-command made an announcement, and a fellow passenger beside her took the phone and switched it off.
“This action prompted a verbal outburst from Emmanson,” the statement said. “The situation was eventually calmed, and the flight departed as scheduled.”
“Upon arrival in Lagos, Emmanson waited for all other passengers to disembark and then proceeded to confront the purser who had earlier instructed her. She walked up to the unsuspecting purser, stepped on her, forcibly tore off her wig, removed her glasses and threw them to the floor, and used her footwear to assault her. She slapped her several times, and when the other cabin crew member tried to intervene, she slapped her too. She then attempted to forcibly remove a fire extinguisher to use as a weapon, an act that could have damaged and grounded the aircraft.
