Ibom Air has distanced itself from the circulation of a viral video showing a passenger partially unclothed during a disturbance on one of its flights.
The airline’s Group Manager for Marketing and Communications, Aniekan Essienette, told TVC News that although the incident took place aboard one of their aircraft, the video did not originate from any staff member.
This clarification comes after Minister of Aviation Festus Keyamo ordered sanctions against any Ibom Air employee found to have leaked the footage.
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The minister noted that while filming for evidence in legal proceedings was acceptable, releasing explicit material to the public was “totally unacceptable.”
Speaking on the matter, Essienette said: “As much as the video was taken on board, we had several other people who were not Ibom Air employees around the vicinity. So, anyone could have taken that video.
“I can tell you categorically that the video was not released by us. It is rather unfortunate that it has gone viral. We do not condone such indecent exposure, so we would not have been the ones to release it.”
She explained that the passenger in question was removed from the plane after resisting instructions to disembark.
“She had tried to come out earlier, but she was restrained because of some activities that had happened behind the scenes, and eventually, the pilot in command had to call security,” Essienette said.
“For us to ensure that security takes her directly off the plane, our crew had to restrain her for a bit, and we saw what resulted after that happened.”
On rising incidents of unruly behaviour on flights, Essienette stressed that airlines do not target passengers for humiliation. She urged authorities to take preventive measures to avoid similar episodes in the future.
