An unnamed female passenger who was charged to court for causing the cancellation of an Ibom Air flight from Uyo to Abuja, has been granted bail.
This was disclosed by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on Monday.
According reports, the airline had earlier announced to passengers that luggage exceeding 20kg would not arrive on the same flight but on the next duplicated flight of the airline.
But the woman insisted that her all her luggage must be on same flight with her. The issue over the woman’s luggage dragged on until the pilot announced that the flight could no linger continue.
The unidentified female passenger, being shielded by airport security from mob attack after she cause cancellation of Ibom Air flight from Uyo to Abuja at the weekend
In a video of the unfortunate incident, which has now gone viral on the internet, other passengers were seen expressing anger and attempting to attack the woman after she unboarded from the aircraft. One female passenger could be heard saying she had a British Airways flight to London at 5am the next day, lamenting that she would miss the flight as “a no show” and amounting to a huge loss on her for which the airline would not take responsibility.
Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at NCAA, Micheal Achimugu, on Monday, told journalists that the woman was detained by the police for two nights and granted bail by a court.
He said, “The regulations state firmly that no provocation justifies violence at the airport. Certain acts, especially holding up the movement of an aircraft through means of violence, could be interpreted as terrorism depending on the severity (to be determined by the police).
“She was taken to the police and was in detention for two nights. She has been charged to court but granted bail. That was the last information I got from the airline and later today (Monday), I will get further information.”
Achimugu said he would meet with other officials to determine why the woman was not deboarded to avoid holding other passengers to ransom.
“It is when things like this happen that we see the lapses and areas where we need to improve. Because the response should have been quicker and the action should have also been faster,” he said.
