Gov. Umo Eno speaking at the Town Square meeting in Nsit Ubium LGA on Saturday.
By Etim Etim
Gov. Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State has announced that he has waded into the dispute between Ibom Air, the state-owned airline, and Ms. Comfort Emmanson, a passenger who had an altercation with the airline’s cabin crew on Uyo-Lagos flight two weeks ago.
Speaking on the matter at a Town Square meeting in his Local Government Area on Saturday, the governor said he will settle the disagreement between both parties and ask Akwa Ibom people and the flying public to continue to support the airline which he described as ‘’one of the best, if not the best, in the country’’.
It is the first time the governor would publicly comment on the row between the airline and the passenger which has dominated discussions for some time now.
‘’The young lady is our daughter; Ibom Air is our airline. We are stepping in to solve the problem; so do not join the mob to castigate Ibom Air’’, the governor told the crowd.
It is not clear how the governor will address the matter. One way is for Ms Emmanson to receive financial compensation from the government, in return for renouncing threats of seeking legal redress and making further damaging statements.
‘’You know the governor will never allow any such dispute involving Akwa Ibom child and our airline to fester. He’s worried that people who are not even well-informed have jumped in to denigrate the airline, which as you know, is the nation’s fvourite carrier’’, said a lawyer who has been following the matter since it started.
Travelling to Lagos on Ibom Air on Sunday, August 10, Ms Emmanson got into an arguement with the cabin crew for refusing to turn off her phone before take-off in accordance with aviation guidelines. The altercation that followed resulted in her arrest by authorities and overnight detention in Kirikiri prison in Lagos. Federal aviation officials are currently investigating the matter. Ms Emmanson has since released a video statement, stating how traumatized she has been.
The Town Square Meeting in Nsit Ubium on Saturday is the tenth and the last in the series that began on March 8. At each stop, the governor would announce a package of financial awards ranging between N300 million and N550 million to local businesses and farmers and receive a document detailing projects that the leaders would want to be implemented by the government. At Nsit Ubium, he announced a N361.4 million support to 844 beneficiaries.
