On Saturday, Comfort Emmanson, a passenger on an Ibom Air flight from Uyo to Lagos who assaulted an air hostess in anger and consequently got dragged off the plane, was remanded in Kirikiri prison on Monday.
In videos circulated on X on Sunday, Emmanson was seen slapping an air hostess, being accosted by airport security and roughly removed from the plane. A staff member on board is seen tugging at her shirt and exposing her breasts. The airline staff allowed the abuse to be filmed and it has since been shared on social media.
A follow up video from Emmanson’s side showed that the air hostess had provoked her by standing at the door instead of letting her alight the airplane with other passengers. This altercation was allegedly due to Emmanson’s refusing to switch off her phone earlier on, insisting that it was on flight mode.
While trying to get her off the plane, the security men and air hostess ripped Emmanson’s clothes and exposed her body, and the staff who took the video circulated it without blurring out her private parts. This video has been shared across different platforms without censorship.
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Twitter personalities such as Dapo, Mc Aliagan and Don Macduff, and blogs like Trending Times, Prof-Net and numerous twitter accounts have reposted the obscene clip, often highlighting the part where Emmanson is stripped.
The exposure has garnered unsolicited and vitriolic comments directed towards Emmanson, with some sexualising her and shifting the conversation from her assault to her dressing.
The videos being circulated violate Emmanson’s constitutional right to privacy and dignity, and the courts interpret this right to include the unauthorised filming and sharing of personal videos without consent.
The Cybercrimes Act also prohibits the sharing of indecent, obscene or pornographic messages via the internet, and it is punishable by a fine of N7,000,000, or an imprisonment term of not more than three years, or both.
Many Nigerians have raised concerns about the violation of Emmanson’s privacy by Ibom Air and suggest that Emmanson take legal action against the airline.
However, Aniekan Essienette, Ibom Air’s Group Marketing and Communications manager, responded on Monday and claimed that the airline’s staff neither filmed nor circulated the clip. The airline blamed other people but failed to name them.
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Network for the Actualisation of Social Growth and Viable Development (NEFGAD), a civil society organisation, offered to give Emmanson free legal aid to probe her treatment at Ibom Air, and demanded that the individual who released the video of her should be investigated and prosecuted.
Festus Keyamo, the minister of aviation, condemned the spread of the indecent video and added that the airport staff who shared the video would be sanctioned. The airport staff remained unnamed at press time.
So far, no party has been sued or prosecuted for creating or sharing the obscene clips of Emmanson.
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