The management of Ibom Airlines, Saturday, apologised to its customers for the delay caused by ‘unruly’ behaviour of a passenger.
One Obiajulu Uja from Oji-River Local Government Area of Enugu State was arrested on board Lagos bound flight after he had delayed take-off for nearly one hour.
A trending video had emerged on Friday, March 31, when security operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, bundled a man shouting ‘Tinubu can’t be sworn in’ and ‘Obidients’ and disrupted the take-off flight of Ibom airline from Abuja to Lagos.
Also read: Ibom Air lifts 1.5 million passengers in three years
He could be heard shouting, “Obidients you’re here. They are doing this to me. Obidients you’re here, I am naked. Obidients you’re here, I am going naked.”
The passenger was removed from the aircraft after publicly opposing that President-elect Bola Tinubu would inauguration, claiming to be a PH.d holder in Law.
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.
The statement read, “We wish to inform the public about an incident on our 6 p.m. 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 Ibom 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.
Passenger is mentally challenged- Lawyer
Obiajulu’s lawyer, Barr. Ejike Ugwu, told DAILY POST in an exclusive interview on Saturday that Obiajulu is mentally challenged.
Ugwu, who said he was at the Airport Police Division to see the suspect, said the police were yet to provide him (suspect) with medical care) despite his bad situation.
“Obiajulu is not in the right state of mind; before he boarded the flight, he was chased away from a hotel in Abuja because of his mental state.
“He even booked three different flights for the Lagos trip. He booked Aero, Dana and Ibom Air. He had the three tickets for the same trip. So, there is no doubt that he is mentally challenged,” Ugwu said.
The lawyer said every effort he made to make the police see reason on why the suspect should be allowed access to medical care had not received attention.
“As I speak to you, both the IPO handling the case and the DPO of the Police Division are nowhere to be found. And the suspect’s legs are all swollen now because of the several beatings he received at the Airport. He is critically sick right now.
“All I am asking for is that he should at least be taken to the police clinic.
“I have also made efforts to reach the Force PRO but he did not take my calls,” he added.
Meanwhile, 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.
