FORMER Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has faulted the handling of the recent incident involving an Ibom Air passenger, Comfort Emmanson, the airline’s crew member and security officials at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos State.
Obi compared the handling of the case with that of a popular musician, Wasiu Ayinde, and accused the government of “double standard.”
On Monday, August 11, The ICIR reported that Emmanson who allegedly assaulted Ibom Air’s crew on a flight from Uyo to Lagos, was arraigned and later remanded at the Kirikiri Correctional Facility.
However, days after a separate airport obstruction incident involving Wasiu Ayinde, also known as KWAM 1, no charges has been filed against him.
Ayinde, an influential musician widely believed to have strong links with the Nigerian government, has been walking freely on the street one week after he was seen in viral videos blocking a ValueJet aircraft from taxiing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, because he was not allowed to board.
The musician was holding a flask suspected of containing alcohol. Consequently, he was requested to drop the flask for officials to check, but he declined.
Peeved by the boarding denial, Ayinde, also called KI De Ultimate, repeatedly attempted to stop the aircraft from taking off, and he was lucky to have escaped being severed by one of the flight’s wings when the pilot angrily left the tarmac with the aircraft without clearance.
KWAM 1 eventually apologised to Nigerians and the government following widespread condemnations of his conduct.
Despite calls by Nigerians that he must face the law for his action, he has yet to be arrested or dragged to court like Emmanson.
Meanwhile, while Nigerians also strongly condemned Emmanson’s conduct, it did not take the authorities 24 hours to charge her in court and remand her.
The ICIR reported that Emmanson was recorded attacking flight attendants and airport security officials at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos State.
Hours after videos of her attacking the crew members filtered into the public space and eventually went viral, another video emerged showing how a flight attendant blocked her from disembarking while other passengers had exited the aircraft.
Reacting to the cases in a statement on Monday, August 11, via his official X handle, Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, apologised to the Ibom Air crew allegedly assaulted by the passenger, stressing the need for Nigerians to uphold good conduct as “a true measure of success and decent living.”
However, he condemned what he termed the “dehumanising treatment” of Emmanson, who was stripped while forced out of the aircraft before her trial and detention hours later.
Obi noted that while the lady had been kept in custody, KWAM 1 who “held a plane from taking off and put hundreds of lives at risk” remained at large, with some government officials advocating for his pardon.
According to Obi, it is about the double standards that have poisoned Nigeria’s justice system.
He said justice in Nigeria must never be about who is poor or powerless versus who has influence or access to government officials.
“While Ms. Comfort Emmanson is in jail, the other offender who committed a more severe offence has not been held to the same standard. He has neither been arrested nor arraigned in any court.
“We must build a country where justice is fair, equal, and not selective, especially against women who are seen to be weaker. This young lady’s offence does not compare to the crimes committed daily by those parading themselves as ‘excellencies’ while looting public funds without consequence, and yet they have not been stripped or dehumanised in the name of justice,” Obi stated.
He stressed that the incidents at the airport showed a broader pattern where the poor and less privileged are punished swiftly, while politically connected offenders evade accountability.
He maintained that the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, and other relevant authorities owed the public an explanation for the double standards in their adjudication.
“Justice must be just, or it is nothing at all. The rule of law based on justice for all must remain the guidepost of our democracy,” he stressed.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance