Mrs. Christiana Ebun, a passenger with Ibom Air was allegedly assaulted by officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport on Monday.
Mrs. Ebun with ticket number QI0313 and seat number 17A, scheduled to depart Abuja to Lagos on a 7:00 a.m. flight and was said to be waiting to board when she sighted some FAAN officials allegedly haranguing another lady and was said to have been recording before a fracas with alleged FAAN officials.
However, a contrary report claims she was not assaulted but succumbed to an asthmatic attack during an argument.
It was gathered that when security was called in, they demanded that the lady desists from filming but she insisted she was on a video call; of which security asked her to hand over the phone for confirmation, she refused as per her right.
Unfortunately, she is said to be asthmatic and when the argument over her phone ensued she had an episode which led to security calling for a doctor.
According to a FAAN official, Ms Ebun went into town to seek medical attention after refusing the ambulance or medical evaluation from FAAN, although it was learnt her number was taken.
The other report indicated there was physical assault, that led to her collapse and that Ms Ebun even fainted, with her body was dragged out of public view.
FAAN’s General Manager, Corporate Communication, Hope-Ivbaise Faithful while responding said the Close Circuit Television ( CCTv) is currently being reviewed in hopes of getting the true picture of what happened at the terminal.
This incident, if true, supports stakeholders’ claims of inadequate training for personnel within the security space around the nation’s airport, further destroying the already battered image of the country and particularly the airport operators, FAAN.
