Ibom Air confirmed on Saturday the evacuation of a passenger from its flight to Abuja-Lagos due to alleged threats against the elected president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu.
In a statement issued by Aniekan Essienette, the airline’s Group Manager, Marketing and Communication, the airline described the passenger’s behavior as “inappropriate and rebellious.”
“A passenger stood up and began addressing other passengers in a manner considered inappropriate and unruly, as he was making other passengers nervous,” the statement said.
The airline did not identify the passenger or provide further details about his condition after he was evacuated from the aircraft.
‘Rebellious behaviour’
PREMIUM TIMES reported how, in a video circulating on social media, the yet-to-be-identified man stood among the passengers’ seat in the middle of the plane and was heard threatening that Mr Tinubu should not be sworn in as president. from Nigeria next month.
“You are all sitting here, and Tinubu is about to be sworn in as president. Tinubu must never take an oath. He should never be president,” he said.
“I am a PhD in law and I will continue to say what I say.”
His conduct and statements caught the attention of passengers on board the flight, while others called for him to go to court.
“Instead of getting off this plane, you’re going down,” the unidentified man told another passenger who challenged him to disembark from the plane.
While trying to resist the attempt to evacuate him from the aircraft, the man yelled: “Observe! You are looking for… obedient!”
It was unclear as of Saturday afternoon whether the man is a supporter of Peter Obi, the Labor Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election.
Supporters of Mr. Obi are popularly known as ‘Obidients’.
forcible removal
In its statement on Saturday, Ibom Air said its crew deemed the man’s continued unruly behavior unsafe and invited airport security to help control the situation.
Faced with his refusal to stop or disembark peacefully, the airline said security officers had no choice but to forcibly disembark the passenger as a last option.
“We are aware that various videos and reports of this incident are circulating on social media and we wish to provide the correct perspective,” the statement said.
“Ibom Air wishes to assure our passengers that we maintain very high standards of safety and service and will never compromise the safety of our passengers.
“We apologize to the affected passengers for the time it took to disembark this passenger, which caused an on-time departure to be delayed by one hour,” the statement said.