Enough is Enough: Nigeria Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, Reads riot act on aviation safety and security, Demands Tough Sanctions After, Ibom Air Passenger
Earlier today, we again woke up to viral videos of a female passenger on Ibom Airline (now identified as Ms. Comfort Emmanson or Comfort Bob) who went berserk and physically assaulted both the flight crew and the ground staff. The incident took place yesterday, August 10, 2025 on Ibom Airline Flight No. Q153 from Uyo to Lagos at about 14:54 hours. Ibom Airline has since issued a statement to provide some context to the effect that the whole unfortunate incident arose because of the refusal of the passenger to switch off her phone during take off as required by extant International Civil Aviation Regulations.
Consequently, in the last few hours, I have been speaking with the Commissioner of Police of the Airport Police Command, the DG of the NCAA and his team, the MD of FAAN and her team, the COO of Ibom Air and his team about the incident.
Apart from the indefinite flight ban imposed on the said unruly passenger (both local and international)
by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) the Police has promptly arraigned her this morning at the Ikeja Magistrates Court for criminal offences and remanded her at Kirikiri Prisons as she could not provide adequate sureties in court. I have attached the Charge Sheet and Remand Order for clarity.
We also note the scuffle that took place between the unruly passenger and ground personnel before she was eventually subdued. This was because of her uncooperative attitude. Whilst we support the filming of her recalcitrant behaviour as evidence to prosecute her, what is DEPLORABLE is to release such evidence containing indecent exposure to the public to ridicule her. That is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE to us. We will not fold our arms and tolerate the debasing of womanhood. I have therefore directed that whoever RELEASED that part of the video containing the indecent exposure amongst the staff should be singled out and adequately sanctioned.
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I have also directed that the airlines must continue to train and retrain their staff in public relations and how to deal with potentially explosive situations in order to diffuse them promptly or nip them in the bud, except when it becomes inevitable. I have also directed a joint security meeting between relevant agencies next week for better coordination of security measures in situations like this or similar ones we witnessed recently.
For genuinely aggrieved passengers, there are clearly laid-down remedies to address grievances. The Consumer Protection Directorate of the NCAA has consistently advertised these remedies and there is no point trying to take the laws into one’s hands that may lead to dire consequences.
We will continue to apply equal sanctions available to us in Aviation on any such erring passengers, that is lengthy flight bans and report the matters to other law-enforcement agencies to do their bit within their powers.
Olorogun Festus Keyamo Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development
