THE management of Ibom Airlines has apologised to its passengers for the delay they experienced caused by ‘unruly’ behaviour of a passenger
The unnamed passenger was removed from the aircraft after publicly opposing President-elect Bola Tinubu’s inauguration.
The incident occurred on Friday, March 31.
The apology came in a statement signed by the airline’s Group Manager, Marketing and Communication, Aniekan Essienette, on the airline’s Twitter page on Saturday.
PRESS RELEASE
April 1, 2023We wish to inform the public about an incident on our 6 pm flight from Abuja to Lagos on Friday, 31 March 2023. pic.twitter.com/mcEiSJFtQJ
— Ibom Air (@ibomairlines) April 1, 2023
The statement read, “We wish to inform the public about an incident on our 6pm flight from Abuja to Lagos on Friday, March 31, 2023.
“A passenger stood up and began addressing other passengers in a manner considered inappropriate and unruly, as he was making other passengers nervous.
“Our crew deemed his continuous unruly behaviour unsafe and called on airport security to help with the situation. Upon his refusal to stop or disembark peacefully, the security operatives were left with no choice but to forcefully disembark the passenger as a last option.
“We are aware that several videos and reports of this incident are circulating on social media and wish to provide the right perspective.”
The airline apologised to the affected passengers for the time it took to disembark the passenger, which caused an otherwise on-time departure to be delayed by an hour.
Reports had emerged on Friday, March 31, that security operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, arrested a man shouting ‘Tinubu can’t be sworn in’ and ‘Obidients’ and disrupted the take-off flight of Ibom airline from Abuja to Lagos.
The Department of State Services (DSS) had on Wednesday, March 29, said it had uncovered a plot to install an interim government in the country.
In a statement signed by its spokesperson Peter Afunanya, the DSS said the plot was being championed by “misguided persons” with “entrenched interests.”
The DSS described the alleged plot as an aberration aimed at undermining the country’s Constitution.
The agency alleged that part of the plot was to sponsor endless violent mass protests in major cities to warrant a declaration of a state of emergency in the country.
A reporter with the ICIR
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