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By, Joke Thomas
When a passenger’s dignity is stripped mid-flight, the damage goes far beyond one viral video.
On a recent Ibom Air flight, a quiet dispute over a phone’s airplane mode spiraled into one of the most humiliating passenger experiences in Nigerian aviation history.
Comfort Emmason a paying passenger with no record of disruption — was ordered by crew to switch off her phone before takeoff.
According to eyewitnesses, including fellow passenger Tunde A. Ibrahim, she complied, but the interaction was tinged with unusual hostility.
“She had already put it in airplane mode,” Ibrahim recalls. “There was no shouting, no scene — just the crew insisting she switch it off completely. You could see she felt singled out.”
What should have been a minor procedural reminder escalated into an abuse of power.
Comfort was forcibly removed from the aircraft, partially undressed in the process, filmed without consent, and had her dignity broadcast on social media.
One video even shows a male staff member deliberately pulling at her dress to expose her breast. The footage — apparently leaked from within airline personnel — is a gross violation of privacy, human rights, and Nigerian criminal law.
Bringing her private videos and pictures to the public to paint her as a “wayward woman” is nothing more than a calculated distraction.
Her personal life is her business. It is irrelevant to the violent and degrading treatment she suffered.
A Pattern in the Skies
This is not the first time Nigerian airlines have clashed with passengers over arbitrary or self-serving rules.
Only days ago, Senator Adams Oshiomhole confronted another airline for habitually closing boarding counters before the official time — only to resell “closed” seats at inflated rates to desperate travelers.
That practice, long whispered about, deserves its own investigation.
Comfort’s ordeal is simply the ugliest manifestation of a deep-rooted rot.
Several passengers from the same Ibom Air flight have now spoken up, confirming that Comfort was the victim, not the villain, as the airline’s PR narrative would have us believe.
They say the treatment she endured was unnecessary, excessive, and targeted.
The Law Is Clear
Nigeria’s Constitution guarantees the right to dignity of the human person. .
Stripping, photographing, and broadcasting a passenger’s nakedness without consent is not just indecent — it is criminal under the Cybercrimes Act, the Criminal Code, and privacy laws.
Even a so-called “ban” from an airline or association raises constitutional red flags.
Globally, courts have ruled that powerful institutions cannot arbitrarily exclude citizens from public services without due process.
In one landmark U.S. case, a woman successfully challenged an international organization’s discriminatory membership rule — forcing them to change.
The principle is universal: rules that trample fundamental rights are unlawful, no matter who makes them.
The Psychological Fallout
Public humiliation leaves scars no apology can erase.
Being forcibly undressed, filmed, and mocked online can trigger post-traumatic stress, anxiety disorders, and deep depression.
In Nigeria, such stigma can also destroy a woman’s reputation, livelihood, and social safety net.
What has been done to Comfort is the same kind of cruelty that has pushed many victims toward suicide — especially when those in power join in victimizing them instead of offering protection
