An Ibom Air passenger, identified as Ms. Comfort Emmanson, has been charged in court and remanded in Kirikiri prison following a violent altercation with the airline’s crew during a Uyo–Lagos flight.
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development’s Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Tunde Moshood, confirmed the development in a post on X on Monday.
“The more reason the flying public should be more careful, the unruly passenger on Uyo-Lagos bound Ibom Air, Miss Comfort Emmanson has been charged to court and she’s now cooling off in Kirikiri,” he wrote.
The incident, which occurred on Sunday, August 10, 2025, began shortly before take-off in Uyo when Ms. Emmanson allegedly refused to switch off her mobile phone despite safety instructions.
The airline said it took the intervention of the Pilot-in-Command and a fellow passenger before the device was turned off, leading to an exchange of words.
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According to Ibom Air, after the flight landed in Lagos, Ms. Emmanson waited for other passengers to disembark before confronting the Purser who had earlier asked her to turn off her phone.
“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,” the airline stated.
The Pilot-in-Command alerted airport security, and a video circulating online shows the Purser preventing the passenger from leaving the aircraft until help arrived.
However, Ibom Air reported that she continued her assault even after security personnel from Ibom Air and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) arrived, attacking both teams and the airline’s ground supervisor.
She was eventually restrained, taken into custody by FAAN security, and handed over to the Nigeria Police for investigation.
Ibom Air has since reported the case to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and issued a lifetime ban on Ms. Emmanson, prohibiting her from flying with the airline again.
