Ibom Air has distanced itself from the circulation of a viral video showing a passenger in a state of indecent exposure during an altercation on one of its flights.
Speaking in an interview with TVC News on Monday, the airline’s Group Manager for Marketing and Communications, Aniekan Essienette, confirmed that while the incident took place aboard an Ibom Air aircraft, no member of the airline’s staff was responsible for releasing the footage.
Her statement follows a directive from the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, ordering sanctions against any airline staff found to have leaked the video. Keyamo noted that while filming such incidents for legal evidence is acceptable, making footage containing indecent exposure public is “totally unacceptable.”
Essienette explained that several individuals present during the incident were not airline employees, meaning the video could have been recorded and shared by anyone.
“As much as the video was taken onboard, we had several other people around who were not Ibom Air employees. So, anyone could have taken that video,” she said. “I can categorically say the video was not released by us. We do not condone such indecent exposure, and it is unfortunate the video has gone viral.”
She added that the passenger involved was removed from the flight after refusing to comply with instructions to disembark. “She had earlier attempted to leave but was restrained due to certain activities that occurred behind the scenes. Eventually, the pilot in command called security, and our crew had to restrain her briefly before handing her over,” she explained.
On the issue of disruptive behaviour on flights, Essienette stressed that no airline would deliberately seek to humiliate a passenger and called on authorities to focus on preventing similar incidents in the future.
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