David Ogede, a lawyer and passenger on the Ibom Air Uyo-Lagos flight involving Ms. Comfort Emmanson, has given a detailed eyewitness account of the events that led to the violent conduct of Emmanson and her forceful ejection by the flight crew and other aviation workers.
Speaking on Channels TV’s breakfast show – Morning Brief – on Thursday morning, Ogede said he was seated “immediately to the left” of Emmanson during the flight. “I was in the aisle to the left, she was in the aisle to the right. My seat number was 14B, the gentleman to my right was 14A, so her own seat number should be either 14C or 14D,” he explained.
According to him, the incident began when the first air hostess approached passengers before take-off, giving clear instructions to switch off their phones. “The first air hostess that came instructed very clearly, ‘No airplane mode, switch off your phone; after take-off, you can put it in flight mode.’ After she addressed us, she spoke to Ms Emmanson and said, ‘Please switch off your phone.’”
Ogede said the situation escalated when a second hostess, who later appeared in the viral video being assaulted by Ms. Emmanson, approached the female passenger. “Even from her (hostess) posture, you could tell she came for trouble. Ms Emmanson had been using her phone, so she told her again, ‘Switch off your phone.’ Ms Emmanson said clearly to her, ‘The buttons on my phone to switch off are not working, so I don’t know how to switch it off.’”
The two reportedly went back and forth, with the hostess pointing out that she was using an iPhone and “didn’t need a button to switch it off.” Emmanson insisted she did not know how to operate it. “The hostess said, ‘I am not touching your phone’ repeatedly. Ms Emmanson responded saying she doesn’t know how to use it, so the hostess now said, ‘Go to settings, then go to general.’”
According to Ogede, Emmanson replied that she could not read the menu and did not understand the directions. “The hostess now said, ‘I don’t have time for your nonsense’ and went on to spell ‘G’, ‘E…’ That was when the gentleman and I were like, what’s going on, don’t speak to us like that. The second hostess did not even acknowledge us.”
Ogede said he asked the gentleman beside him to assist Emmanson with her phone since he had no experience with iPhones. “The gentleman took the phone and started trying to sort it out. While that was going on, Ms Emmanson started talking to the second hostess, saying, ‘Why are you embarrassing me like this, why?’ The air hostess then told her, ‘You better keep quiet now, if you say another word, I will deal with you.’ That was when Ms Emmanson flared up and started cursing. I cannot say the things she was saying because the words are X-rated.”
He added that the second hostess then said, “Okay, we will see,” before leaving and never returned.
“After that happened, a couple of passengers started telling her, ‘Switch off your phone, don’t risk our lives.’ But, we told them that is not going to happen, that she was trying to switch it off,” Ogede recalled.
He said Emmanson continued muttering and cursing to herself throughout the flight. “She kept saying she bought the flight ticket with her money, why will she be treated that way? I can’t say the things she was saying because they are really nasty, but she was not directing it to anyone. The second hostess kept checking to see how things were going.”
Ogede said that when the plane landed, the first hostess and the pilot assisted passengers in disembarking. “I assumed Ms Emmanson went to the toilet because that was the only compartment. We went out and totally forgot about her until we started seeing the videos,” he concluded.
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