‘You have no power under Nigerian Law to ban anyone from flying’ — Nigerian Lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi tells airline operators

By Adetayo Omotoyosi Adeolu

As Nigerians react to the unruly behaviour at the airports in the country involving Fuji singer, Kwam 1, and the latest involving an Ibom Air passenger, Comfort Emmanson. The legality of the sanctions imposed by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), has been challenged by a lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi Esq.

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Recall that Miss. Comfort, who was on an Ibom Air flight from Uyo to Lagos, caused a scene when the plane landed by physically assaulting the airline staff, prompting her subsequent arrest and prosecution.

The Lagos Voice reports that she was subsequently banned for life by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), prompting protests on social media over what is now termed the “double standards” in the enforcement of law in Nigeria.

Reacting to the ban, a prominent lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi stated that the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has no power under Nigerian law to ban anyone from flying. Olajengbesi made this assertion in a strongly worded message he posted on his X page.

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He said, “Nigeria is gradually sliding into impunity, with individuals and associations feeling entitled to make proclamations as if the country were a banana republic.”

“I wish to state categorically that no provision of the Civil Aviation Act, 2022, nor any other extant law in Nigeria, empowers the AON, a mere voluntary trade association, to impose a No Fly ban on any individual. Such an action is reckless and an affront to the Nigerian Constitution, particularly the fundamental rights of the affected individual.”

Olajengbesi said that the only body charged with the enforcement of nationwide flight restrictions is the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) under Sections 31 and 32 of the Civil Aviation Act, 2022.

“AON is not a statutory regulator and has no legal mandate to unilaterally abridge the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of movement under Section 41 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).”

He also condemned the speedy arraignment and subsequent remand of Comfort at Kirikiri prison.

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“The hasty arraignment and subsequent remand of the lady, without affording her adequate time and facilities to prepare her defence, constitutes an abuse of the judicial process and a blatant violation of her constitutional right to fair hearing as enshrined in Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). Such procedural shortcuts erode public confidence in the justice system, weaken the rule of law, and send a dangerous message that Nigeria is gradually encouraging impunity where institutions and actors operate outside the bounds of legal authority without consequence.”

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The legal practitioner also called on the authorities to listen to both sides of the divide before imposing sanctions or prosecution. “In every dispute, there are always two sides to the coin. Not even a native doctor can definitively determine who is right or wrong without properly hearing from both parties. Justice must remain the bedrock of our society, anything less is an invitation to lawlessness,” he added.