A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), David Ogebe, who sat beside Comfort Emmanson, the passenger who had a meltdown on Ibom Air flight from Uyo to Lagos on Sunday, has testified that the air hostess was the aggressor.
Recall that the enraged passenger assaulted one of the hostesses and had to be physically carried out of the aircraft.
She was later arraigned and remanded in Kirikiri Correctional Centre. However, following a mediation, she was released on Wednesday, August 13, 2025.
Ogebe was featured on Channels Television and requested to share his perspective on the issue.
According to the lawyer, one of the air hostesses spoke rudely to Emmanson because she assumed she was not cooperating with the instruction given to her by another hostess for her to switch off her phone.
Ogebe said the first Ibom Air hostess told Emmanson twice to switch off her phone, but she kept fiddling with her phone.
According to him, this prompted the second hostess, Juliana Edwards, to bark the same instruction at Ms. Emmanson with aggression.
He said the passenger responded that she heard, but was having problems with the power button on the phone.
Ogebe said Edwards pointed out that the passenger did not need a power button to switch off the phone since she was using an iPhone.
He said Emmanson said she did not know how to do it and asked if the hostess could help her. The lawyer said Edwards responded with “I’m not touching your phone.”
Ogebe said the hostess tried to guide Emmanson through the process, but the lady said she could not understand.
The lawyer said that at that point, Edwards said she did not have time for her nonsense, prompting him and one other passenger to step in to assist the lady.
According to the lawyer, Emmanson was already angry at this stage and was asking why the hostess was treating her like that.
She reportedly said to no one in particular that she bought the ticket with her money and did not deserve the treatment she got.
Ogebe said the hostess threatened Emmanson to shut up or she would deal with her. This reportedly worsened the situation, and the passenger flared up. She reportedly used some unprintable words in her anger.
By the time the plane landed, Emmanson reportedly went to the loo, while Ogede said he and the other gentleman who helped her switch off the phone disembarked.
He insisted that there was no time in his recollection when Emmanson told the hostesses that she had her phone on Aeroplane Mode.
