Untold Story Of How Ibom Air Staff Allegedly Provoked, Assaulted Emmanson – Eyewitness
What began as a routine flight from Uyo to Lagos turned into a distressing experience for Ms. Comfort Emmanson, a passenger who was allegedly provoked and humiliated by flight attendants aboard an Ibom Air aircraft.
Her story, shared by fellow passenger and lawyer David Ogede, has sparked concern over how vulnerable individuals are treated in public spaces.
Ogede, who sat beside Emmanson during the flight, recounted the incident in an interview with Channels Television’s The Morning Brief. According to him, the trouble began shortly after the crew began safety briefings.
“The first air hostess addressed us on emergency exit protocols. After she finished, she approached Emmanson. Even from her posture, it was clear she came looking for trouble,” Ogede said.
“Emmanson had been handling her phone and I noticed she was trying to do something, but I’m not sure what.”
The flight attendant reportedly instructed all passengers to switch off their phones completely before takeoff, stating that airplane mode was not allowed. When Emmanson explained that her phone’s power button was faulty, the situation escalated.
“She replied clearly, ‘Please, the buttons on my phone to switch off are not working. They are not working, so I don’t know how to switch it off.’ The woman simply repeated, ‘No, switch off your phone,’” Ogede recalled.
A second flight attendant soon joined the exchange, intensifying the confrontation. “She said, ‘Look, you are even using an iPhone. You don’t need a button to switch it off.’ Emmanson replied, ‘Okay, I don’t know how to do it. Can you do it for me?’ The hostess responded, ‘I’m not touching your phone. I’m not touching your phone. Just switch it off.’”
As Emmanson continued to express confusion, the attendant attempted to guide her through the phone’s settings. But when Emmanson admitted she couldn’t read and needed help understanding the instructions, the tone reportedly became more dismissive.
“She asked, ‘Is there a button on my phone? Can you spell “general”?’ The air hostess began spelling it out: ‘G, then E.’ That was when the gentleman on my left and I spoke up,” Ogede said. “We said, ‘What is going on? Don’t speak to her like this.’ The second air hostess didn’t even acknowledge us. She didn’t look our way to see that someone was speaking.”
Ogede then asked another passenger to assist with the phone, as he wasn’t familiar with iPhone operations. But the verbal tension continued to rise.
“Emmanson asked the second air hostess, ‘Why are you embarrassing me like this? Why?’ The hostess replied, ‘You had better keep quiet now. If you say another word, I will deal with you.’”
The atmosphere in the cabin grew increasingly uncomfortable. “As we approached landing, the passenger beside me and I said in jest, ‘God help us. Let us get out of this plane before anything happens.’ But we also knew something was wrong. We were worried.”
Upon landing, Ogede observed that the first flight attendant—whom he described as professional—helped Emmanson stow her belongings when she missed the landing announcement. Emmanson briefly left her seat to use the restroom before disembarkation began.
Reflecting on the incident, Ogede said the situation could have been handled with more compassion. “As a human being and citizen, considering how she was handled during the flight, with a little bit of humility and humanity, things might have been different.”
“The woman felt she was being attacked and singled out. Just an apology and some understanding could have calmed her down. I maintain that if the phone issue had been handled by the first air hostess throughout, it wouldn’t have escalated at all.”
Emmanson was released from a correctional facility on Wednesday, August 14, 2025, following the incident—adding another layer of concern to what many are calling a deeply troubling episode.
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