Ibom Air has taken to Twitter to share their side of the story of the shocking incident which saw their security remove a passenger from a flight.
The video which has since gone viral showed the woman being left exposed as she was removed by the team. Another unprofessional reaction from aviation staff to unruly passengers.
The incident stemmed from a female passenger on an Ibom Air flight from Uyo to Lagos refusing to turn off her phone before landing, violating safety rules. This led to her allegedly slapping a flight attendant, escalating into a tarmac altercation with security. Her wig came off during the struggle; claims of full stripping appear exaggerated based on videos and reports.
See statement by Ibom Air below;
Incident Involving an Unruly Passenger on August 10, 2025
Ibom Air confirms that on Sunday, August 10, 2025, an incident occurred on board our Uyo–Lagos flight involving a passenger, Ms. Comfort Emmanson, whose conduct posed a serious threat to the safety of our crew, passengers, and aircraft.
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. She then attempted to forcibly remove a fire extinguisher to use as a weapon, an act that could have damaged and grounded 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 has since 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 our aircraft.
Ibom Air reiterates its zero-tolerance policy towards any form of unruly or violent conduct that threatens the safety of passengers, crew, or equipment. Such behavior will be met with the strongest possible response, including legal action and permanent restriction from our services.
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 Nigeria Police.
Safety remains our highest priority. We urge all passengers to comply with crew instructions at all times for the safety, security, and comfort of everyone on board.
Nigerians though are not pleased, they want Ibom Air to apologise
Saint: The Ibom air hostess intentionally assault this lady… by pulling off her top from trousers, she also went ahead to pull it off her breast. This is not acceptable. Though the lady might be wrong.
Debbie: When you want to fight publicly, please wear bra and pant.
“My phone, my hair, my b—bs”for the whole world to see. Oh chim!
A female passenger on an Ibom Air flight from Uyo to Lagos created a scene at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport when she assaulted an air hostess and clashed with airport security before being forcefully removed from the aircraft.
Osaro: Has anyone else noticed that one of the hostesses intentionally pulled off the lady’s dress, exposing her breasts? Such an act is punishable and constitutes extremely unprofessional conduct. The Ibom Air hostess should face prosecution as well.
On another note, the lady should have worn a bra.
Ruth: Ibom Air needs to apologize & compensate this girl heavily or else, we’ll cancel them.
Kazeem Olalekan Israel wrote;
Of course, I was not on the aircraft, but, this is a whole lot of disjointed narrative.
In the second paragraph of this piece, it was claimed the female passenger “bluntly refused” to comply with the announcement of the Pilot-In-Command to switch off her phone which prompted “a fellow passenger seated beside her to forcefully grab the phone from her and then switch it off”. That, in itself, is violation. One would have expected that Ibom Air condemn that passenger’s behavior which could have birth violence on-board, instead, they cheer that passenger on. To have claimed that she “bluntly refused” suggest she must have been noticed by any of the air hostesses but, they choose instead to ignore.
To have claimed the tension which arose as a result of the violation she suffered from that passenger was calmed is obviously a lie. They should do well to tell us what ensued in the cause of calming the tension.
In the third paragraph, it was claimed she “… proceeded to confront the purser who has earlier instructed her.” It will interest the public to know that in the preceding paragraphs, no mention was made of the intervention of any purser. As a matter of fact, one should know what the instruction from the purser was and the lady’s reaction. For transparency, it will do good for Ibom Air management to explicitly state what the instruction was and their whole confrontation at the initial stage. Why did she attack the purser and not the passenger who forcefully grabbed her phone?
As against their claim in the forth paragraph, the video in circulation did not show any violent act from the female passenger towards Ibom Air security personnel, the only thing captured in the video was aale person calling on other male personnel to come on-board and then violently dragged the lady out. One would have expected that female security personnel would have been called to accompany her out of the aircraft. Or, better still, the male personnel could have worded her and gently take her off the flight.
Rather than do that, she was violently dragged by 3 men even when she did not violently hesitated and one of the air hostesses as captured between 53 secs and 56 secs of the video, stretches her hand to rip the female passenger off the top she was wearing and then strip her half-naked (exposing the breasts). One would have expected that she would be immediately let off after her breast had been exposed, yet, they kept dragging her. That is humiliatory and degrading!
Ibom Air management is only being hypocritical with their claim of maintaining”zero-tolerance towards conduct that threatens the safety of passenger…” That lady was violently treated, humiliated, abused and violated by the crew members and security personnel attached to Ibom Air. As against their claim, no iota of professionalism was isolated by their crew member in handling the issue. If violently treating passengers and stripping them half-naked by ripping them off their clothes is what Ibom Air refers to as “professionalism” then, I’m scared.
The NCAA must work towards enforcing civility and decorum on-board. The treatment meted on that lady is shameful, annoying, embarrassing and disturbing. It does not portray the country’s aviation industry well. I will refer the management of Ibom Air and NCAA to the provisions of Section 34 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) which guarantees right to dignity of human person.