The Federal Government has clarified why Comfort Emmanson, a female passenger accused of assaulting Ibom Air crew members, was remanded in custody, while Fuji music legend Wasiu Ayinde, popularly known as Kwam 1, who allegedly disrupted a ValueJet flight in Abuja last week, faced no immediate court action.

The Ibom Air incident, which occurred on the Uyo–Lagos route on Sunday, has sparked public outrage and allegations of selective justice.

Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, Mike Achimugu, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said the circumstances surrounding the two incidents were different.

“There is no comparison here; it’s not a case of oranges and oranges,” he explained. “In the Kwam 1 incident, the airline did not activate its rights to take the passenger to court, so the NCAA petitioned the authorities. In the Ibom Air incident, perhaps because staff had been assaulted, the airline immediately took up the matter and went to court.”

Achimugu stressed that the NCAA was not directly involved in Emmanson’s case, whereas in Kwam 1’s situation, the Authority issued an advisory to the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) to bar the musician from flights.

He also clarified that Kwam 1 was not placed on a six-month ban, as earlier reported, but on an indefinite ban pending the outcome of investigations. On Emmanson’s no-fly ban, Achimugu noted that airline operators have the legal authority to impose such restrictions.