Barr Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation & Aerospace Development, signed the written verdict
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Barr Festus Keyamo, on behalf of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, announced the administrative decisions the ministry opted to dispense in cases of flight disruptions through ungentlemanly conduct purportedly exhibited by both male and female passengers and the cabin crew, including the ground staff.
The federal government has resorted to moral suasion in handling and disposing of two elevated airport incidents believed to border on unruly conduct on the part of the two passengers in the eye of the storm namely, Wasiu Ayinde, the musician whose stage name is KWAM1 and a 26-year-old girl, Comfort Emmanson.
VALUEJET VS KWAM1 SUMMARY OF DECISIONS
According to the media statement signed by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, he established that, “clear wrongs were committed by both the offending passengers and staff of the airlines involved from all the evidence available to us and those available to the public”.
Hence, the minister in the case of ValueJet and Wasiu Ayide Marshall, a.k.a. KWAM1, directed that “the NCAA is to reduce his flight ban to one month. FAAN will also work with the music star with a view to engaging him as an ambassador for proper airport security protocol going forward.
Alhaji Wasiu Ayinde, KWAM1, got another feather to his cap- Airport Facilitation & Security Protocols Ambassador- earned from performing arts staged on the Abuja airport apron
The minister’s directive added, “Having publicly demonstrated penitence, the NCAA is also to withdraw its criminal complaints against KWAM 1 earlier lodged with the Police”.
Barr Keyamo gave a directive on other concern, thus: “In the case of Captain Oluranti Ogoyi, and the co-pilot, First Officer Ivan Oloba of VALUEJET, the NCAA is to restore their licenses after the same period of one-month ban after undergoing some mandatory professional re-appraisal. The details will be announced by the NCAA”.
Ibom Air Vs Comfort Emmanson
The minister also directed “in the case of the unruly passenger, Ms. Comfort Emmanson, on the Ibom Airline on Sunday, the 10th of August, 2025”, thus “I have conferred with Ibom Airline to withdraw the Complaint against her today. When the Police took her Statement in presence of her lawyer, she exhibited great remorse for her conduct”.
He added, “Subsequent to the withdrawal of the complaint by the Complainant, the CP of Airport Command and the Police Prosecutor will immediately take the remaining steps to facilitate her release from Kirikiri Prisons within this week”.
Comfort Emmanson modelling
Keyamo, in furtherance to those reprieve stated thus, “I have also conferred with the leadership of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and have appealed to them to lift the lifetime flying ban imposed on her, to which they agreed. The details of the resolution will be made public by AON subsequently”.
The minister’s statement concluded with an explanation of the rationale for those decisions by stating that the “decisions were taken by Government and the airline operators purely on COMPASSIONATE grounds as Government will never pander to base sentiments, politically-motivated views or warped legal opinions when clear encroachment of our laws are involved”.
The statement professed thus, “We are also sending a CLEAR MESSAGE that we take safety and security in the aviation sector very seriously and we have decided to draw a line after these clemencies”.
DETAIL UNEDITED STATEMENT BY AVIATION MINISTER
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