An unruly passenger deboarded from an Air France flight has now been flown to Paris by the airline.
The passenger was deboarded in Abuja by Air France when he was constituting a nuisance on the flight.
He was on an Air France Flight going to Paris with a stop at Abuja. It was during the Abuja stop that the crew of the flight sent him off the plane for unruly behaviour so that he would not pose a safety risk to the flight.
At the Abuja Airport, the passenger attempted to enter Abuja without a valid visa and was prevented from exiting the airport.
He engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with airport officials until he was subdued, sedated and lodged in a hotel within the airport.
The latest update provided by authorities indicated that he had been flown out to Paris.
See tweets by Michael Achimugu of NCAA and Air France below:
“Air France deboarded an unruly passenger at the Abuja International Airport. His disruptive behaviour in the aircraft was a safety risk for other passengers.
Since he did not possess a Nigerian visa, he was not allowed into Abuja. Being a French national, he was visited by staff of the French Embassy and a doctor and then granted accommodation in the hotel within the airport terminal.
Later, British Airways deboarded him due to the same unruly behaviour he had put up aboard Air France.
Today, he was supposed to depart via Asky but could not present evidence of payment for the e-‘ticket’ he presented. The airline declined to airlift him.
Immigration officials had quite a hectic time handling the erratic passenger who can be seen littering our clean terminal with what seems to be tissue paper and screaming, “My passport, my passport.”
Apparently, the Immigration officers wanted to ensure that he boarded his flight before handing the passenger his international passport to prevent him from escaping through the exit gate and into the city.
NCAA Consumer Protection regional head, Miriam Anosike, understanding the security, safety, and diplomatic ramifications of the case, addressed Air France personnel sternly, reminding them that they brought the passenger to Nigeria and must be responsible for airlifting him out of Nigeria as he is becoming a liability to the country.
“If you are afraid to airlift him, why do you expect other airlines to be responsible for him? Get him a ticket and move him tomorrow!”
I salute Miriam, whose years of experience as CPO came in handy. Tomorrow night, we will monitor Air France operations to ensure that the passenger is safely airlifted.
Kudos to the men of the NIS who also kept their cool all through.”
In a follow-up tweet, Achimugu wrote:
“Examined by a doctor and placed on a sedative, the unruly French national has finally boarded an Air France flight to CDG, Paris. I was physically present to witness his boarding at 10pm tonight, along with the very capable terminal head, Miriam Anosike who did a yeoman’s job in this case, Ifueko Abdulmalik, and gallant men of the Nigeria Immigration Service.
I must mention that the Immigration Commander at the airport, Mr. Agada was very cooperative. His willingness to collaborate with Miriam was the glue that held all of this together.
We advised the airline to let the cabin crew have some of the administered sedatives in case the passenger displays any disruptive behaviour during the course of the flight.
Kudos to both the NCAA, Nigeria Immigration Service, and the Air France station manager who did an amazing job of attending to the passenger.
Air France also sent out a tweet:
“Air France confirms that the crew of flight AF830 departing on December 30 from N’djamena (NDJ) to Paris (CDG) via Abuja (ABV) decided to disembark an unruly passenger in Abuja due to his behaviour on board which could have consequences for flight safety.
As he did not hold a visa for Nigeria, the company’s teams, without waiting for the next Air France flight, tried their best to reroute the customer on other airlines, unfortunately without success.
The customer has been accommodated by the company in the international area of Abuja airport and boarded AF844 today to Paris CDG.”
See the unruly passenger here
