Woman who caused cancellation of an Ibom Air flight to Abuja, granted bail -NCAA

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said that a female passenger, who caused the cancellation of an Ibom Air flight to Abuja, has been charged to court and granted bail.

The woman, whose identity had yet to be confirmed, caused a scene over the weekend when airline officials refused to carry her overweight luggage with her on the same flight.

Ibom Air earlier announced to passengers that luggage exceeding 20kg would not arrive on the same flight but on the next duplicated flight of the airline.

The dispute over the passenger’s luggage dragged on until the airline cancelled the flight.

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.