The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Afam Osigwe, has called for the retraining of the crew members of Nigerian local carrier, Ibom Air, following an incident with the airline’s air hostesses and a female passenger Comfort Emmanson.
The NBA President was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Thursday.
During the interview, he mentioned that a meeting should be held to discuss the etiquette of crew members and the procedures for airline bans, as well as the process of carrying them out legally and in a civilised manner.
Osigwe faulted the actions of the airline staff members who filmed the passenger’s behaviour, exposed her “nudity and further degraded her, subjecting her to public ridicule”.
Osigwe said crew members need to be educated, examined, and given necessary training and retraining.
“Airlines need to educate the air cabin crew,” he said, even as he faulted “the conduct they exhibited and their overly sensitivity to incidents they should let slide, and their inability to ignore some things to de-escalate situations. Their language, tone and approach are unnecessary”.
Osigwe said passengers also need to understand that there are legal obligations when flying on an aircraft.
“So, there is the need for training for everyone on the aircraft and everyone has a responsibility to carry out to ensure orderly conduct and behaviour on the aircraft,” he added.
He emphasised that adopting these measures would not only prevent future conflicts but also retain the dignity of passengers and preserve the reputation of the Ibom airline industry and Nigerians.
Examining the case that involved Fuji musician Wasiu Ayinde popularly known as Kwam 1, the NBA president stated that his actions appeared to pose a threat to the airline passengers, but since the Ibom Air passenger was the victim, she was given a ban, even though it has now been renounced.
