The Federal Government has clarified why Comfort Emmanson, a female passenger accused of assaulting Ibom Air crew members, was remanded, while Fuji music legend Wasiu Ayinde, popularly known as Kwam 1, who allegedly disrupted a ValueJet flight in Abuja last week, did not face similar court action.
The Ibom Air incident, which occurred on the Uyo to Lagos route on Sunday, has sparked public outrage and allegations of selective justice.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mike Achimugu, explained that the two incidents were not the same.
“There is no comparison here; it’s not a case of oranges and oranges. In the Kwam 1 incident, the airline did not activate its rights to take the passenger to court, so the NCAA did what it was supposed to do by petitioning the authorities to petition the passenger.
“In the Ibom Air incident, maybe because their staff had been assaulted, the airline immediately activated its right to take up the matter, and it went to court,” he stated.
Achimugu noted that the NCAA was not directly involved in Emmanson’s case, whereas in Kwam 1’s matter, the Authority issued an advisory to the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) to ban the musician from flights.
He also clarified that contrary to earlier reports, Kwam 1 was not placed on a six-month ban but on an indefinite ban pending the outcome of investigations.
According to him, airline operators have the legal authority to place passengers on a no-fly list, which was why Emmanson was given a life ban.
