The father of Miss Comfort Emmanson, the female passenger of Ibom Air who was dragged off an aircraft by airport security officials in Lagos and subsequently thrown into prison following an altercation with the airline’s hostess, has demanded justice and compensation, lamenting the humiliation inflicted on his family.
Godwin Emmanson Mbok, a tailor and native of Ikoro Abasi Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, described the ordeal as a deliberate attempt to “rubbish and tarnish” his family’s image while the state government failed to take appropriate action on the matter.
Speaking in an interview with Is Real TV, the visibly distraught father said his daughter was stripped and her nakedness circulated on the internet “over a mere argument” because he neither has money nor political connections.
“The first day I saw this thing, I was seriously provoked because I tried all I could to send my child to school,” Emmanson said.
“I couldn’t know why it could have happened that way. Is it because I don’t have money? Is it because I don’t have anybody in power?”
Emmanson, fighting back emotions, lamented the psychological and financial toll the incident had taken on him.
“Even now, I’m so provoked that I don’t know what to say. I don’t even know how we are going to pay our bills because they have rubbished us, they tarnished our image. I don’t know what exactly to do,” he said.
“As I am now, I’m not myself. I don’t feel like eating or doing anything. They stripped my child naked. She didn’t steal, just for a mere argument.”
Emmanson questioned, “How can you strip somebody’s child naked and post to the whole world? Who posted it? How did it happen? It is a bad issue.”
The aggrieved father accused both the airline and the Akwa Ibom State Government of neglecting their responsibility to ensure justice.
“What has the state government done to this? Is it just because I’m speaking just as that, it decided to go that way? Why should it happen?”
“I’m not happy. No matter how they paint it, compensation must be paid,” he insisted.
Pointing to his sewing machine, Emmanson revealed how he has struggled to raise his daughter despite economic hardship.
“This is what I do to train that child. I don’t have a shop. Somebody gave me this space because I don’t have money to pay for a shop. After the hoodlums blocked my shop, I couldn’t rent a shop for more than a decade,” he explained.
Emmanson was arrested on Sunday, August 10, 2025, following a reported altercation during the flight in which she allegedly refused to switch off her mobile phone before take-off and later assaulted the purser.
She was arraigned the next day and remanded at the Kirikiri Correctional Facility.
The case attracted widespread attention after videos circulated online showing her being blocked from leaving the aircraft and, in another clip, partially exposed while being dragged out by airport security.
Aviation minister Festus Keyamo condemned the release of the footage and promised to sanction those responsible.
Human rights activist Aisha Yesufu described the handling of the case as “selective justice,” while Lagos-based lawyer Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya called for a transparent investigation and strict adherence to due process.
SaharaReporters had reported that an eyewitness who sat beside Emmanson on the flight later provided a statement to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), prompting the agency to begin a formal investigation.
The aviation minister later announced the withdrawal of criminal complaints against her and confirmed that the lifetime flying ban imposed by Ibom Air would be lifted.
The development followed a similar incident involving popular Fuji musician King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, also known as KWAM 1 or K1 De Ultimate, and ValueJet Airlines.
