Federal Government of Nigeria under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the Commissioner of Police in charge of Lagos Airport to withdraw the one sided and obviously biased court case the Nigeria Police Force may have wrongly instituted against an Ibom Air Passenger, Comfort Emmanson who was seen in viral videos retaliating and defending herself physically after a group of Ibom Air personnel and Lagos Airport team had attacked her and provoked her to action, the FG position on the issue was made known by the Nigeria Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo in a press release the Minister signed and made available few minutes ago, although Festus Keyamo reversed his self and acknowledged that the issue was a case of confrontation between the 26 years old passenger and the staff of Ibom Airlines who in the new press release admitted that the staff of Ibom Air and the Lagos Airport authority team acted wrongly, but, the Minister did not state how the attacked passenger would be compensated most especially when her chest sexual organs were seems to be deliberately exposed after a suspected Ibom Airline staff pulled off and tore the passenger shirt with obvious intention to expose the passenger’s nakedness, the action of the Federal Government may eased the tension among millions of people who have accused the Nigeria Police Force of aiding and abetting the Ibom Airline company to continue to attack and oppress the offended passenger, Comfort Bob who is also identified as Comfort Emmanson by thus supporting the statement of Ibom Air management who in their first press release made statement that seems to have some level of deliberate falsehood and raising up a dead issue to win undue public sentiments, manipulate the Nigeria Police Force to help them secure detention holding charge from the Lagos State Magistrate Court to further oppress and intimidate the attacked passenger, specifically, Ibom Air stated in her first press release that, shortly after the plane landed at Lagos Airport, the passenger waited for every other passenger onboard the plane to disembark, and thereafter, without provocation, went to one of the Plane hostesses, Juliana Edward the Ibom Air Management described as Purser, “stepped on her, forcibly tore off her wig, removed her glasses and threw it 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”, soon after the Ibom Air Management released the statement on Monday, a video surfaced on the internet that probably invalidated the statement of the Ibom Air Management and stood out as an acceptable evidence that the Management of Ibom Air are people who maybe rightly described as pathological liars who probably believed in telling lies as a way of managing crisis and handling difficult customers relations, as seen in the viral video that surfaced the internet after the apparent falsehood of Ibom Air Management, the attacked passenger was seen politely telling the air hostess, Juliana Edward to leave the doorway so that she can disembark from the plane, the seemly aggressor in this matter, the Air Hostess Juliana Edward refused to yield to the appeal of the passenger, and Ibom Air Management in their first press release confirmed that the Air Hostess, Juliana Edward deliberately blocked the doorway to prevent the passenger from disembarking the aircraft, and in the viral video, the attached wig hair on the head of the air hostess was still seen on her head and intact while the passenger was telling her to leave the doorway so that she can pass, obviously, this is in contrary to the seemly deliberate falsehood painted and stated in black and white by the Ibom Air Management that the air hostess attached wig hair was destroyed by the passenger without provocation, also, the attached wig hair on the passenger head and the jacket she was putting on were still intact as at the time she was telling the apparent aggressor, the air hostess to leave the door, and another viral video later showed both the air hostess and the passenger dragging at the point of the plane divider cotten, and at this time as seen in the video, both the passenger and air hostess wig hair were pulled off including the passenger jacket she was putting on to cover her body completely, the natural hair on their heads could now be seen as they continued to drag each other at the plane doorway, and Ibom Air management in trying to seemly win undue public sentiments, raised up a dead issue of a minor quarrel the passenger had with the air hostess and co passenger over the passenger alleged initial refusal to switch off her phone during the plane take off at Uyo airport, the Ibom Air management in the press release confirmed that the minor quarrel the passenger had with the air hostess and co passenger over switching off phone at Uyo airport was already a dead issue and the action of the passenger never led to threat of aviation safety or violation of aviation safety procedures hence the passenger was not deplane at Uyo airport, but we don’t know why the Management of Ibom Air decided to advertise and bring up the minor quarrel as a way to seemly win public sentiments to cover up the true picture of a separate event that occurred between the passenger and the air hostess when the plane landed at Lagos Air Port, and the Nigeria Police Force in the five count charges filed against the passenger at the Ikeja Magistrate court in Lagos State, did not state or even mention the event that occurred at Uyo airport before the plane took off.
Announcing the withdrawal wday early morning, the Nigeria Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo said and in quotes that; “1. In the last 48 hours, I have been in consultation with critical stakeholders in the Aviation Sector and those involved in the unfortunate incidents regarding the unruly behaviours of certain individuals at our airports of recent.
2. Though regrettable, we think valuable lessons have been learnt by all sides to these incidents and airport security protocol, especially, have been well highlighted for the travelling public. If nothing at all, the episodes have undoubtedly helped to raise public awareness about appropriate conduct within the aviation space.
3. 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 those available to the public. It is clear that all the actors involved cannot continue to highlight the injury or injustice done to them without acknowledging their own equal culpability.
5. Therefore, after reviewing the entire incidents, including appeals made by well-meaning individuals and remorse shown by the actors, the following decisions have been reached:
(a.) In the case of the unruly passenger, Comfort Emmanson, on the Ibom Airline on Sunday, the 10th of August, 2025, 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.
(b.) 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.
(c.) 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.
(d.) In the case of KwAM 1, the NCAA is to reduce his flight ban to a one-month period. FAAN will also work with the music star with a view to engaging him as an ambassador for proper airport security protocol going forward.
(e.) Having publicly demonstrated penitence, the NCAA is also to withdraw its criminal complaints against KwAM 1 earlier lodged with the Police.
(f.) In the case of Captain Oluranti Ogoyi, and the co-pilot, First Officer Ivan Oloba of VaLUEJET, the NCAA is to restore their licenses after the same period of one-month ban after undergoing some mandatory professional re-appraisal. The details will be announced by the NCAA.
6. I have 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.
7. 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.
8. These above decisions were taken by Government and the airline operators purely on CoMPASSIONATE grounds as Government will never pander to base sentiments, politically-motivated views or warped legal opinions when clear encroachment of our laws are involved.
9. 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”.
Nigeria Police Force in the five count charges filed against the female passenger of Ibom Air, stated that; “CoUNT 1: That you Comfort Bob on the 10 day of August, 2025, at about 14:30 hours, while onboard Ibom Aircraft Number, SN-BXP parked at Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), Ikeja, in the lkeja Magisterial
District, did behave in an unruly and disorderly manner by shouting on top of
your voice, abusing and assaulting the flight crew and refusing to disembark
from the aircraft after landing and thereby committed an offence contrary to
section 4 (1) (a) and punishable under section 4 (2) of Federal Airports Authority
of Nigeria (FAAN) bye law 2005.
CoUNT 2: That you Conmfort Bob , on the same date, time and place, in the
aforementioned Magisterial District, did assault one Juliana Edward by slapping and hitting her cheeks with your right hand and thereby commited an offence contrary to section 170 (1) (a) (b) and punishable under section 172 of the criminal law of Lagos State of Nigeria. 2015.
CoUNT 3: That you Comfort Bob, on the same date and place, at about 14:50 hours, in the aforementioned Magisterial District, did assault one Jokpame Sagun by hitting her face with your slippers and thereby committed an oflence contrary to section 170 (1) (a) (b) and punishable under section 172 of the criminal law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.
CoUNT 4: That you Comfort Bob, on the same date, time and place, in the aforementioned Magisterial District, did willfully damaged the aircraft divider cotton valued two thousand, five hundred U.S Dollars, ($2,500) belonging to
Ibom Airline and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under
section 350 of the criminal laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.
CoUNT 5: That you Comfort Bob, on the same date, time and place, in the aforementioned Magisterial District, did willfully damaged one braided wig by
dragging and tearing the wig valued one hundred and ten thousand naira, (₦110,000, belonging to Juliana (Edward) and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 350 of the criminal laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015″.
The Ibom Air Management in a press release issued on Monday and titled; “Incident Involving an Unruly Passenger on August 10, 2025”, said and in quotes that; “Ibom Air confirms that on Sunday, August 10, 2025, an incident occurred on board our Uyo–Lagos flight involving a passenger, Comfort Emmanson, whose conduct posed a serious threat to the safety of our crew, passengers, and aircraft.
Shortly before take-off from Uyo, Emmanson was instructed in line with standard aviation safety procedures, to switch off her mobile phone. She bluntly refused to comply until the Pilot-in-Command made an announcement, after which a fellow passenger seated beside her took the phone and switched it off. This action prompted a verbal tirade from Emmanson. 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 it 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.
By this time, the Pilot-in-Command had alerted airport security. Before security could arrive, the Purser as seen on the viral video on the internet, prevented the passenger from leaving the aircraft until security arrived.
The arrival of Ibom Air Security personnel, did not deter the passenger as she attacked them as well, lashing out violently at the security personnel. She was then restrained and removed from the aircraft by force. Even after disembarking, she continued to assault Ibom Air security personnel, and even slapped the ground supervisor.
The passenger was removed from the ramp and taken into custody by FAAN security and handed over to the Nigeria Police Force for further investigation.
Ibom Air has since submitted a report on the incident to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, and placed a travel restriction on Emmanson, who will no longer be permitted to fly on any of our aircraft.
Ibom Air reiterates its zero-tolerance policy towards any form of unruly or violent conduct that threatens the safety of passengers, crew, or equipment. Such behavior will be met with the strongest possible response, including legal action and permanent restriction from our services.
We commend the bravery and professionalism of our crew in handling this situation under extremely challenging circumstances, as well as the swift support from airport security and the Nigeria Police.
Safety remains our highest priority. We urge all passengers to comply with crew instructions at all times for the safety, security, and comfort of everyone on board”.
We had reported that the Nigeria Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo says the ministry has directed for the Aviation staff who released the video footage containing the aspect of an Ibom Airlines passenger, Comfort Emmanson or Bob seen in an indecent appearance with her chest sexual organs exposed after the passenger shirt was torn by an Ibom Airlines staff while security operatives were seen in the viral video dragging the aggrieved passenger out of the aircraft following an act of confrontation between the passenger and Ibom Airlines hostesses which one of the hostesses blocked the right of way of the passenger and prevented the passenger from disembarking from the plane, and after countless warning to the Airline passenger to leave the road, the passenger went physical with the hostess by allegedly slapping her on the face which the confrontation with the hostess apparently led to the alleged destruction of the plane divider cotton which Ibom Airlines valued at $2,500 as stated in count 5 of the 5 count charges the police filed against the passenger at Ikeja Magistrate court in Lagos State.
We had reproted that a careful study of the viral video involving the Ibom Airline Personnel, Lagos Airport Security operatives and an aggrieved passenger, Comfort Emmanson onboard the Airline Plane on Sunday indicated that while the enraged passenger was being dragged off the plane by three men; who held her two hands and legs, suspending her a little bit on the air, a lady putting on Ibom Air corporate clothes who was behind the camera lens could be seen in the video to have approached the passenger at the door point of the plane while the passenger was about to be taking out, apparently dipped her hand towards the waist part of the passenger, untucked the passenger shirt from the trousers, grabbed and pulled the passenger’s shirt towards her head, and in the process, the passenger shirt got tore and the passenger’s chest sexual organs or private parts were completely exposed, the action of the Ibom Airline staff appeared to be deliberate, as the Airline female staff was not part of those dragging the passenger off the aircraft and after the female passenger’s body was exposed, the Ibom Airlines female staff never joined or assisted the security operatives to drag the passenger off the plane, this indicated that, the motive of the female staff of Ibom Airline was solely to remove the passenger shirt and expose the aggrieved airline passenger to ridicule.