An angry passenger was arrested on Thursday after he allegedly destroyed laptops belonging to United Nigeria Airlines following the cancellation of his flight.
The incident happened at the airport premises. The Public Relations Officer of United Nigeria Airlines, Chibuike Uloka, confirmed the development, saying Aviation Security operatives immediately arrested the man before handing him over to the police.
He said, “The incident happened at the airport premises. Aviation Security has arrested him and handed him over to the police. From the investigation, we can count about two laptops that the passenger destroyed. After we are done with our investigation, we will find out if other items were destroyed.”
The Director of Administration at the airline, Linus Awute, explained that the flight was cancelled after the aircraft suffered a bird strike, which required immediate grounding for safety checks. He stressed that the airline could not compromise safety rules issued by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
He said, “There is evidence of pandemonium. There is evidence of somebody grabbing our laptops at the same time,” describing the moment the passenger turned violent.
“It was a bird strike, resulting in a delay. For us, safety is what matters. Whenever such a thing happens to an aircraft, it needs to be grounded and checked. Its safety condition will have to be determined.”
Awute stressed that the airline would never disregard aviation safety.
He added, “Our pilot can enter the plane and fly. It’s our money. But we don’t do that. Doing that means we have gone against safety regulations. So we didn’t do that.”
According to him, NCAA officials were on site and tried to calm the man, but he refused to listen.
“This same man, NCAA officials were on site trying to calm the situation down, but he refused. He says he’s coming from Switzerland with his wife,” he said.
Awute added that the airline had offered the usual options available whenever a flight is cancelled, including refunds or rebooking, but the passenger rejected them.
He said, “Whenever such a thing happens, passengers have options, several options. Either you get your money refunded on the spot, or you are booked on another flight. All of these things will happen only when you are ready to listen.”
The passenger reportedly attacked staff and smashed their equipment.
Awute said, “And then hitting our staff and smashing their working equipment, that’s what happened. The best we can do is not to fight but to bring the police in.
“Like now we have controlled ourselves by taking the matter to the police. In his own case, what did he do? He wanted to fight; he wanted to attack everything. If the plane had been closed, he would have smashed our aeroplane.”
He said the airline initially planned full prosecution but the man is now negotiating with the police to pay for the damages.
“And right now he’s negotiating for peace. We want to prosecute him, but he’s negotiating to pay for the damages he has caused. He’s right now negotiating, and our IT unit has gone to look into the laptop and also see how he can replace them,” Awute added.
He questioned whether the man would have acted the same way abroad.
“So that’s impunity, and it’s not acceptable. Can he do this in Switzerland, where he’s coming from? Right now, he won’t be talking about paying for a laptop. He will be locked up,” he said.
United Nigeria Airlines had earlier announced that several flights would be disrupted after one of its aircraft suffered a bird strike.
The airline said the affected aircraft was immediately grounded for technical checks in line with safety procedures and apologised to passengers for the inconvenience, assuring them of timely updates and assistance with rebooking.
