The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has explained its intervention in two recent incidents involving unruly passengers, stressing that the agency only steps in where necessary and within the limits of its mandate.
Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, Mike Achimugu, made the clarification on Tuesday while featuring on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
He said in the case of Fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde, popularly known as K1 De Ultimate, the airline involved did not press charges.
“The airline [in the singer’s case] did not activate its right to take the passenger to court. As a result, the NCAA petitioned relevant authorities to prosecute the passenger, issuing an advisory to the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) to have the passenger banned,” Achimugu stated.
However, in the Ibom Air case where a passenger, identified as Comfort Emmanson, allegedly assaulted a staff member, he noted that the carrier immediately exercised its right to seek legal redress.
“Maybe because their staff had been assaulted, the airline immediately activated its right to take up the matter, and it went to court, so the NCAA is not involved in the case of the Ibom Air passenger,” he said.
Emmanson was reportedly charged to court and remanded on the same day the incident occurred. Other passengers on the flight from Uyo to Lagos were said to have seized her phone and switched it off during the altercation.
Achimugu stressed that the incidents show that the aviation system is being tested, adding that there is “enough blame to go around FAAN, AVSEC, cabin crew, passengers.”
“Unruly behaviour is not acceptable anywhere in the world, no matter the confrontation. The regulations are not sentiment-based; those rules are there for the safety of every passenger,” he said, urging passengers to always obey cabin crew instructions.
The AON, in a statement on Monday by its spokesperson, Obiora Okonkwo, announced a lifetime ban on Emmanson from flying with any member airline, domestically or internationally. It warned that anyone who engages in similar conduct in future would face the same consequence.
A similar sanction was imposed last week when the NCAA banned K1 De Ultimate from flying for six months over alleged unruly behaviour at the Abuja airport.