Leaked Video Not from Us — Ibom Air

Ibom Air has denied any involvement in the release of a viral video showing a passenger in a state of indecent exposure during an in-flight altercation.

According to a Vanguard report, the airline’s Group Manager for Marketing and Communications, Aniekan Essienette, clarified in an interview with TVC News on Monday that while the incident took place on one of their flights, the footage was not shared by any member of Ibom Air’s staff.

The Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, had earlier ordered sanctions against any Ibom Air staff member found responsible for leaking the footage.

He stated that while filming the incident for evidence in court was acceptable, releasing a video containing indecent exposure to the public was “totally unacceptable.”

Speaking on the matter, Essienette said that although the recording was made onboard one of the airline’s aircraft, several people in the vicinity were not Ibom Air employees. “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,” she explained.

“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 added.

The manager also explained that the passenger was forcefully removed from the aircraft 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.”

Addressing the rising cases of disruptive behaviour on flights, Essienette stressed that no airline would “go about their business to humiliate a passenger” and urged authorities to focus on preventing similar incidents in the future.