*Summons Emmanson, Ibom Air Cabin Crew For Further Investigation
*Mbok Laments Daughter’s Treatment, Demands Compensation
FOLLOWING recent unruly behaviour by passengers and ugly incidents at the country’s airports, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced that all passengers must switch off their phones during civil flights.
At a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, August 19, NCAA Director General, Chris Najomo, said all phones must be switched off during the critical aspects of flight takeoff and landing in all airports in the country.
This may not be unconnected with the recent incident involving a passenger, Comfort Emmanson, and an Ibom Air flight attendant, identified as Juliana Edward, aboard a flight from Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, to Lagos, which became controversial because of the way it was handled, especially the exposure of the passenger’s sensitive parts online.
Najomo said this action would put a stop to different rules by airlines, which have caused some sort of confusion among passengers of late, adding: “As a takeaway and to avoid ambiguity and confusion, all mobile phones and other portable electric devices should be switched off during the critical stage of flight on all Nigerian airlines. Switch off. Nothing like flight mode any longer.
“Nigerian air operators are, therefore, required to amend their operators’ manuals to reflect this requirement and submit to the NCAA for approval.
“We remain alert to future reviews of this requirement as aircraft technological enhancement improves.
“It remains the responsibility of the crew to communicate this requirement to the passengers and the responsibility of the passenger to comply with crew instructions.”
Meanwhile, NCAA has invited Emmanson, Edward and members of Ibom Air’s cabin crew for further questioning over the August 10 incident.
Its Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, disclosed this on Tuesday during the ongoing Emergency National Civil Aviation Security Committee and Stakeholders’ Meeting in Abuja, in response to questions after delivering his presentation.
Achimugu said the NCAA had already spoken with Emmanson earlier on Tuesday and that she and her colleagues would appear before the Authority on Wednesday, August 20, to continue the investigation, adding: “I have spoken with Ms. Emmanson this morning. We are also inviting the Ibom Air cabin crew for continued investigation on the incident. They will be here tomorrow.”
He explained that the pilot-in-command did not immediately call in security operatives after landing in Lagos, as the matter appeared to have been resolved before departure from Uyo, but that Emmanson, who visited the restroom after touchdown, was the last passenger to disembark, neccessitating the need for further investigation of the matter.
Achimugu assured stakeholders that NCAA would conduct a thorough investigation to establish all the facts surrounding the incident.
In a related development, father of the passenger, Godwin Emmanson Mbok, while condemning the treatment meted to his daughter, has demanded justice and compensation, lamenting the humiliation inflicted on his family.
Mbok, a tailor, from Ikoro Abasi Local Council of Akwa Ibom State, described the ordeal as a deliberate attempt to “rubbish and tarnish” his family’s image, criticising the state government’s alleged failure to take appropriate action on the matter.
In an interview with Is Real TV, an angry Mbok lamented that his daughter was stripped and her nakedness circulated on the Internet “over a mere argument,” ostensibly because he is poor or has no political connections.
“The first day I saw this thing, I was seriously provoked, because I tried all I could to send my child to school.
“I don’t know why it could have happened that way. Is it because I don’t have money? Is it because I don’t have anybody in power?” he queried, rhetorically
Emmanson bemoaned the psychological and financial effect on him and his family, saying: “Even now, I’m so provoked that I don’t know what to say. I don’t even know how we are going to pay our bills, because they have rubbished us, they tarnished our image. I don’t know what exactly to do.
“As I am now, I’m not myself. I don’t feel like eating or doing anything. They stripped my child naked. She didn’t steal, just for a mere argument.
“How can you strip somebody’s child naked and post to the whole world? Who posted it? How did it happen? It is a bad issue.”
He accused the airline and the state government of neglecting their responsibility to ensure justice, noting: “What has the state government done to this? Is it just because I’m speaking just as that, it decided to go that way? Why should it happen?
“I’m not happy. No matter how they paint it, compensation must be paid.”
Pointing to his sewing machine, Emmanson said he had struggled to raise his daughter, in the face of economic hardship, adding: “This is what I do to train that child. I don’t have a shop.
“Somebody gave me this space because I don’t have money to pay for a shop. After hoodlums blocked my shop, I couldn’t rent a shop for more than a decade.”
