The Airline Operators of Nigeria has placed a female passenger, Comfort Emmanson, who assaulted airline officials on an Ibom Air flight inbound Lagos from Uyo on its ‘No Fly’ list indefinitely.
This came as the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has condemned the release of a video showing indecent exposure of the passenger during the incident, describing the act as “totally unacceptable” and directing that the staff responsible be identified and sanctioned.
AON announced the ban on the passenger in a statement on Monday issued by its spokesperson, Prof Obiora Okonkwo. The statement insisted that Emmanson was the one assaulting the crew members, adding that the ban on the passenger is indefinite.
The statement read, “We condemn the violent incident involving Ms. Comfort Emmanson, a passenger on Ibom Air flight Q9 303 from Uyo to Lagos on August 10, 2025. Therefore, effective immediately, the AON has placed Ms. Emmanson on its ‘No Fly’ list indefinitely. She is hereby banned from flying with any AON member, either domestically or internationally, for life.
“Such incidents have become one too many, with the most recent being the incident involving Nigerian musician, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal (KWAM 1) on VajueJet and the unruly behaviour of Senator Adams Oshiomhole towards the members of staff of Air Peace.”
The aviation minister, Keyamo, condemned the release of a video showing indecent exposure of the passenger during the incident, describing the act as “totally unacceptable” and directing that the staff responsible be identified and sanctioned.
In a statement on his official X account on Monday, Keyamo said, “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.”
He further reminded passengers that “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.”
The statement concluded with a warning: “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.”
Also, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria expressed deep concern over the increasing cases of unruly passenger behaviour at the nation’s airports, warning that such acts will no longer be tolerated and will attract tough sanctions under existing aviation laws and regulations
