CITIZENS COMPASS—The solicitor to Ms. Comfort Emmanson, the female passenger whose nude video went viral during an altercation with an air hostess with Ibom Airlines Limited, on Thursday, said the passenger was dehumanized and maltreated.
The altercation occurred on Sunday, August 10, 2025 at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos State.
The solicitor, Adefunke Maria, spoke on Channels Television’s Morning Brief programme describing the incident as a “gross violation” of her client’s dignity, alleging that an air hostess “wilfully ripped off” Ms. Emmanson’s blouse during a struggle inside the aircraft.
She was properly dressed with her jacket and blouse intact when the confrontation began,” Maria said. “It was during the forceful attempt to overpower her that the jacket was pulled off and her blouse was torn, exposing her body in the process.”
The lawyer also questioned why male security personnel were deployed to restrain her client instead of female officers, calling the approach “unnecessary and degrading.”
Video clips of the incident, widely circulated on social media, show Ms. Emmanson being restrained by several men as she protested. Maria alleged that the footage released by the airline was selectively edited to protect its staff from liability.
“At that point in the aircraft, every passenger had disembarked. Comfort was the only passenger remaining, surrounded by Ibom Air and aviation security,” the lawyer stated in debunking the airline’s claim that its staff did not record and circulate the nude video of its customer. “A passenger could not have come back to record. So, if a video exists of her blouse being ripped, it’s not adding up for the airline to deny involvement.”
The confrontation reportedly began when an air hostess ordered Ms. Emmanson to switch off her phone. According to her lawyer, the device was already in airplane mode, but the ensuing verbal exchange escalated tensions until Ms. Emmanson was blocked from disembarking.
Ms. Emmanson, who was released from Kirikiri Prison on Wednesday after the Federal Government ordered the withdrawal of criminal charges against her, has yet to publicly narrate her full version of events. Her lawyer said she is resting and will decide later whether to pursue civil action against the airline.
—GWG
