NCAA reacts to ‘double standards’ allegation, says Ibom Air passenger,  Emmason was sued by airline

NCAA, however, claimed it referred KWAM1’s incident to the Attorney General and Inspector General of Police.

By Kehinde Okeowo   

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has explained why Ibom Air passenger, Comfort Emmanson, was arrested and charged to court, while ace Fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde, aka KWAM1, who committed a similar offence was never prosecuted.

Speaking in a recent interview with DAILY POST, the spokesperson of the aviation regulatory body, Michael Achimugu, insisted that only the airline can take such a decision.   

His clarification comes as Emmanson, on Monday, was charged in court and remanded in prison, a development that has attracted mixed reactions from Nigerians..

Wadding into the saga, Labour Party (LP) 2023  presidential candidate, Peter Obi, described Emmanson’s treatment as “double standards.”

While reacting to the allegations, Achimugu said NCAA did not sue KWAM1 or Emmanson, adding that it was the prerogative of the airline to approach the court when a  passenger misbehaves.

ALSO READ: Punishments to Kwam 1, Comfort Emmanson indicative of double standards that poison Nigeria’s justice system – Peter Obi

He, however, noted that his organization referred KWAM1’s incident to the Attorney General and Inspector General of Police.

Achimugu said, “There’s nothing to put together here. The Ibom Air passenger was arrested and charged to court by the airline.

“The airline has exercised its right to sue the unruly passenger in court. So long as that case is in court, the NCAA has no role to play in it. Okay.

“But in the Kwam 1 case, since the airline did not sue or take the passenger to court, the NCAA, which also does not have prosecutorial powers, decided to do the right thing by criminally referring the case to the Attorney General and Inspector General of Police.

“So if ValueJet had arrested and taken Kwamwan to court that day, the NCAA would not have been involved to the extent that it became involved.

“Because they didn’t do that, the NCAA did what it had to do. In this case, the airline, since the incident happened, immediately arrested the lady and sued her in court. So that’s not the NCAA’s fault.

“We did not sue Kwam 1; we did not sue this lady”.