The management of Ibom Air has given an insight into the forceful removal of a passenger from its Abuja-Lagos flight.
Recall that some security agents, on Friday evening, forcefully removed the passenger identified as Obiajulu Uja from the flight over unruly behavior before the take-off.
The man was said to have shouted on the airplane that on no account should the President-elect, Bola Tinubu be sworn in as the next Nigerian leader.
His strange behavior, however, attracted the attention of other passengers and flight attendants who called in security personnel to remove him from the plane.
In a statement on Saturday by its Group Manager, Marketing and Communication, Aniekan Essienette, the airline said the team had to forcefully disembark him because his conduct was “unsafe.”
It said upon his refusal to stop or disembark peacefully, the security operatives were left with no choice but to forcefully disembark the passenger as a last option.
The airline apologize to the affected passengers for the time it took to disembark this passenger, which caused an otherwise on-time departure to be delayed by an hour.
She said, “We wish to inform the public about an incident on our 6 pm flight from Abuja to Lagos on Friday, 31 March 2023.
“A passenger stood up and began addressing other passengers in a manner considered inappropriate and unruly, as he was making other passengers nervous.
“Our crew deemed his continuous unruly behavior unsafe and called on airport security to help with the situation. Upon his refusal to stop or disembark peacefully, the security operatives were left with no choice but to forcefully disembark the passenger as a last option.
“We are aware that several videos and reports of this incident are circulating on social media and wish to provide the right perspective.
“Ibom Air wishes to assure our passengers that we maintain very high safety and service standards and will never compromise the safety and security of our passengers.
“We apologize to the affected passengers for the time it took to disembark this passenger, which caused an otherwise on-time departure to be delayed by an hour.”
