Comfort Emmanson, the passenger accused of violently attacking airline officials aboard an Ibom Air flight from Uyo to Lagos, has been charged to court and remanded at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre in Lagos.
Tunde Moshood, special adviser on media and communications to the minister of aviation and aerospace development, Festus Keyamo, confirmed the development in a post on his official X handle 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,” Moshood wrote.
The incident has sparked renewed debate over disruptive passenger behaviour, which the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) says is on the rise at airports nationwide.
The NCAA has vowed stricter enforcement against such acts, warning that physical or verbal assaults on airline staff are punishable under both aviation and criminal laws.
Ibom Air had earlier announced a lifetime travel ban on Emmanson, accusing her of refusing to switch off her phone before take-off, confronting the purser after landing and physically assaulting multiple crew members.
According to the airline, she stepped on the purser, tore her wig, removed her glasses, struck her with footwear and slapped her several times.
Another crew member who tried to intervene was also slapped.
The passenger also attempted to remove a fire extinguisher to use as a weapon, an act the airline said could have endangered the aircraft.
She was eventually restrained and removed from the plane by security, during which her crop shirt was torn, exposing her breasts.
On the tarmac, she continued the assault, slapping the ground supervisor before being handed over to the police.
