A female passenger who disrupted an Ibom Air flight bound for Abuja due to a dispute over her luggage has been granted bail following a court appearance.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) confirmed the incident, which led to the cancellation of the scheduled flight and caused significant inconvenience to other passengers.
The incident occurred over the weekend when the woman, whose identity has not been revealed, reportedly protested after airline staff refused to carry her overweight luggage on the same flight.
Ibom Air had earlier informed passengers that any luggage exceeding 20kg would be transported on a subsequent flight due to weight restrictions.
Despite this clear policy, the disagreement escalated, delaying operations and forcing the airline to cancel the flight entirely.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, explained the severity of the situation.
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.
