Why We Asked ‘Obidient’ To Be Bundled Out Of Our Aircraft

Ibom Air has explained why an ‘Obidient’ passenger was bundled out of its Abuja-Lagos flight at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on Friday.

There was a mild drama on Friday when the passenger, who identified himself as a member of the Obidient Movement as supporters of the Presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, are known as, announced that the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, must never be sworn in as President.

He accused fellow passengers of sitting while Tinubu, who won February 25, 2023, Presidential election, is about to be sworn in

The airline security team and Aviation Security Personnel of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja had to bundle out the passenger.

Providing an insight into the incident, Ibom Air in a statement by Group Manager, Marketing and Communication, Aniekan Essienette, said the team had to forcefully disembark him because his conduct was “unsafe.”

She said, “We wish to inform the public about an incident on our 6 pm flight from Abuja to Lagos on Friday, 31 March 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 behavior 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.

“Ibom Air wishes to assure our passengers that we maintain very high safety and service standards and will never compromise the safety and security of our passengers.

“We apologize to the affected passengers for the time it took to disembark this passenger, which caused an otherwise on-time departure to be delayed by an hour.”