A passenger has assaulted an officer of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, at the Lagos Airport.
The Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of NCAA, Michael Achimugu, made this known in a statement on Saturday.
Achimugu said the passenger, identified as Ibok Maurice Ibok, was captured assaulting the officer over an alleged missing luggage.
Earlier today, one Mr. Ibok Maurice Ibok, a passenger whose bags did not arrive via his Royal Air Maroc flight (short-landed baggage) became very aggressive and threatened an NCAA Consumer Protection Officer in Lagos.
The officer, a victim of an unjustified physical attack in the past, distanced himself from the passenger who continued to scream at the top of his voice. The CPO maintained that he could not attend to the passenger until he agreed to calm down.
A staff of an aviation agency, allegedly an AGM, can be heard and seen lending voice to the passenger against the CPO, rather than de-escalate the situation,” he said.
Achimugu, following the incident, warned that no one has a right to attack NCAA personnel, no matter the provocation, stressing that they are not service providers and are only there to assist in resolving complaints and ensuring airlines compliance.
He further said that attacking them serves nobody any good purpose.
The Authority’s legal department will take up a case against Mr. Ibok Maurice Ibok. The AGM will be reported to his managing director.
Royal Air Maroc is one of the airlines against whom the NCAA has initiated enforcement actions. The Authority will therefore investigate today’s occurrences and take appropriate action based on its findings.
The Honourable Minister of Aviation and the DG NCAA will not tolerate any assault on their staff. Passengers are urged to comply with Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023. We remain committed to protecting the rights of all stakeholders,” he added.
