A fresh perspective has joined a sea of reactions to the airport incidence involving an “unruly” passenger, Ms. Comfort Emmanson and members of the Ibom Air Crew on Sunday. Well meaning Nigerians are insisting that while Justice should take its cause for her role in the row, posting a video of her nudity on the internet was unwarranted and should be punished.
In a now viral video, Ms. Emmanson was dragged out of the aircraft by a number of men belonging to the airport security crew. During the process, her top drew up, exposing her nude chest. Some Netizens have insisted that closer inspection of the video showed that a female member of the crew drew the passenger’s top on purpose, intending on shaming her and driving home the narrative already painted about her.
The aviation minister, Keyamo, while reacting to the entire incident, condemned the release of that part of the video showing indecent exposure of the passenger during the incident, describing the act as “totally unacceptable” and directing that the staff responsible be identified and sanctioned.
In a statement on his official X account on Monday, Keyamo said,
“Whilst we support the filming of her recalcitrant behaviour as evidence to prosecute her, what is deplorable is to release such evidence containing indecent exposure to the public to ridicule her. That is totally unacceptable to us. We will not fold our arms and tolerate the debasing of womanhood.
“I have therefore directed that whoever released that part of the video containing the indecent exposure amongst the staff should be singled out and adequately sanctioned.”
Human rights activist, Aisha Yesufu also echoed the same point of view in a video reaction to the incident saying:“That is sexual harassment. That is you putting somebody’s nudity in the public while there was literally no need for that to be in the public place.
“You needed to show that you have humiliated her and now she will forever live with the fact that her body part… is now all out on display and people will continue to make caricature with it,” she said.
The human rights activist argued that the situation could have been handled with more dignity. “Imagine the way they dragged her out. Do they even train the security agents on what to do?
“They dragged her as if they were dragging chicken and someone from the back drew her dress that it tore and exposed her breasts.
“Do you even understand what happens to her mental state? I’m not saying that what Comfort Emmason did was right… but there are better ways that Ibom Air could have handled that issue, not in the way that humiliated her,” she added.
Yesufu questioned why the same force was not applied to other high-profile individuals in similar circumstances.
Why didn’t you drag King Wasiu Ayinde out of the aircraft like that? Why didn’t they bundle Senator Adams Oshiomhole and drag him on the floor?
“Why was it only Comfort that they felt comfortable dragging on the floor and displaying her body all over the space? There are a whole lot that is wrong there, and then they dragged her to court and remanded her but the other people have not been remanded. I will say it again, selective justice is actually injustice,” she said.
Trailing the same point of view, Popular Nigerian Singer, Simi, posted on her IG story saying:
“So let’s say the lady is actually mad and did too much… Someone recorded her being dragged off the plane, recorded her being exposed like that AND THEN POSTED IT without editing out this exposure or blurring it out. Lol.”
“Because aunty will face the law, but voluntarily posting her half-naked for millions of people to see when less than 10 people actually witnessed it in the first place deserves punishment too.”
In another post, she stressed:
“You can’t condemn one madness and leave another one.”
People are calling that the video should be taken down from the internet, the issue should be looked at from another point of view to verify how the passenger became so enraged, punish those who posted that part of the video and also take action against influential people who have been in similar situations but are yet to be punished.
