The Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo has directed Ibom Airline to withdraw criminal charges against Comfort Emmanson.

He said the Police will immediately take the remaining steps to facilitate her release from Kirikiri Prisons within the week.

Keyamo also asked the NCAA to reduce the flight ban slammed on KWAM 1 to a one-month period.

This was made known in a statement posted on X by the Minister on Wednesday.

Keyamo said the development followed the outcome of consultation with critical stakeholders in the aviation sector and those involved in the unfortunate incidents .

According to the Minister, valuable lessons have been learnt by all sides to those incidents.

Keyamo said that in the case of Captain Oluranti Ogoyi, and the co-pilot, First Officer Ivan Oloba of VALUEJET, the NCAA is to restore their licenses after the same period of one-month ban after undergoing some mandatory professional re-appraisal.

“These above decisions were taken by Government and the airline operators purely on COMPASSIONATE grounds as Government will never pander to base sentiments, politically-motivated views or warped legal opinions when clear encroachment of our laws are involved,” he added.

Ibom Airlines Limited has banned a passenger identified as Comfort Emmanson, from flying with its airline after she was found assaulting one of the crew members of their aircraft.

Emmanson had in a viral video repeatedly slapped a Purser with Ibom Aircraft after she was allegedly told to switch off her phone before take-off.

Confirming the incident in a statement on Monday, Ibom Air said the incident happened on Sunday while Emmanson was on board their Uyo to Lagos flight.

The statement read, “Shortly before take-off from Uyo, Ms. Emmanson was instructed in line with standard aviation safety procedures to switch off her mobile phone. She bluntly refused to comply until the Pilot-in-Command made an announcement, after which a fellow passenger seated beside her took the phone and switched it off.

“This action prompted a verbal tirade from Ms. Emmanson. The situation was eventually calmed, and the flight departed as scheduled.

“Upon arrival in Lagos, Ms. Emmanson waited for all other passengers to disembark and then proceeded to confront the Purser, who had earlier instructed her. She walked up to the unsuspecting Purser, stepped on her, forcibly tore off her wig, removed her glasses and threw it to the floor, and used her footwear to assault her. She slapped her several times, and when the other cabin crew member tried to intervene, she slapped her too.”

The airline also maintained that the passenger attempted to forcibly remove a fire extinguisher to use as a weapon, an act they described as “an intention to damage and ground the aircraft”.

“By this time, the Pilot-in-Command had alerted airport security.

Before security could arrive, the Purser, as seen on the viral video on the internet, prevented the passenger from leaving the aircraft until security arrived.

“The arrival of Ibom Air Security personnel did not deter the passenger as she attacked them as well, lashing out violently at the security personnel. She was then restrained and removed from the aircraft by force. Even after disembarking, she continued to assault Ibom Air security personnel and even slapped the ground supervisor.

“The passenger was removed from the ramp and taken into custody by FAAN security and handed over to the Nigeria Police Force for further investigation,” Ibom Air stressed.

The airline stated that it had submitted a report on the incident to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and placed a travel restriction on Ms. Emmanson, who will no longer be permitted to fly on any of their aircraft, while commending the crew members and the security personnel for handling the situation with decorum.

“We commend the bravery and professionalism of our crew in handling this situation under extremely challenging circumstances, as well as the swift support from airport security and the Nigerian Police.”

FG has ordered the audit of all local airlines in Nigeria.

JomogNews reports that the Federal Government has directed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to conduct a thorough audit of all domestic airlines operating in the country.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, stated this on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday.

He said that beyond the suspension of Dana Airlines and the ongoing audit of the airline, all other carriers in the country would be audited to guarantee the safety of passengers and the health of the civil aviation industry.

Keyamo, who assumed office last August following his appointment by President Bola Tinubu, has come under fire in the last 24 hours over what some civil aviation watchdogs described as “external interference” in the autonomy of the NCAA.

On Wednesday, Keyamo directed the the NCAA to suspend Dana Airlines, saying recent events of the local carrier raised serious concerns regarding both the safety and financial viability of their operations. The minister said the airline should remain suspended until the conduct of a comprehensive audit, a directive NCAA Director General Chris Najomo enforced immediately.

The suspension of Dana Air was enforced some 24 hours after one of the airlines’ planes skidded off the runway at Lagos airport.

Some stakeholders subsequently said it was wrong for the minister to direct the NCAA to suspend an airline, urging the Senior Advocate of Nigeria to respect the autonomy of the regulator.

However, Keyamo slammed his critics, saying that the law empowers him to direct the NCAA to do the right thing “in matters of national security”.

The minister argued that “a series of incidents had happened two years ago that the airline is not healthy”.

“Let those aviation experts take their wives and children to board that airline that was declared unsafe,” said a furious Keyamo.

“Would Nigerians have preferred that I keep quiet and be part of the cartel, all in the name of I am not supposed to interfere? What am I doing as minister?” he queried.

On how long the audit of Dana Airlines would take, he said, “It can be as quick as possible. Like I said, do the right thing, return to business. We must do the right things for the safety of Nigerians. Not only them (Dana Airlines), we will carry an audit of all of them, all of them. Let Nigerians be safe when they fly our airlines.”