The International Charitable Initiative for Girl Child and Women Development Foundation (ICIGWODEF) commends the recent directive by the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, to Ibom Air to withdraw all criminal charges against Ms. Comfort Emmanson and the swift steps being taken to secure her release from Kirikiri Prisons. We also acknowledge the Minister’s instruction to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to reduce the indefinite flight ban against Ms. Emmanson to one month.
This positive development, as announced by the Minister on Wednesday via his official statement, is a welcome relief after what has been a deeply distressing ordeal for Ms. Emmanson and a serious breach of human dignity and fundamental rights. We appreciate the engagement of all critical stakeholders in the aviation sector toward learning valuable lessons from this unfortunate incident and moving toward a more just and respectful handling of similar cases in the future.
ICI-GWODEF further notes the Minister’s balanced approach regarding other affected parties, including Captain Oluranti Ogoyi and First Officer Ivan Oloba of ValueJet, who will undergo a mandatory professional re-appraisal before the restoration of their licenses. We emphasise the importance of upholding standards, accountability, and professionalism across the aviation industry while ensuring fairness and due process for all individuals involved.
As a foundation committed to the protection and advancement of the rights of girls and women, we call on relevant authorities to sustain this momentum by embedding respect for human dignity, the rule of law, and equitable treatment into all aviation policies and procedures. Compassion shown by the government in these decisions must translate into consistent enforcement of justice that is free from political or emotional bias.
ICI-GWODEF remains ready to support Ms. Emmanson and all victims of injustice, and we urge the aviation sector and government agencies to collaborate closely to prevent such degrading incidents in the future.
Abiola Laseinde
President, ICI-GWODEF
