Singer Simisola Ogunleye, popularly known as Simi, and reality TV personality Natacha Akide, popularly called Tacha, have waded into the controversy surrounding the viral video of passenger Comfort Emmanson, who was removed from an Ibom Air flight at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The drama unfolded on Sunday, August 10, after Emmanson allegedly refused to switch off her phone before take-off from Uyo to Lagos, an act that violated standard aviation rules.
Ibom Air said the matter escalated on arrival in Lagos, leading to a heated altercation in which the passenger allegedly attacked staff before she was handed over to the police.
Footage from the incident, recorded by someone on the ground, captured Emmanson being forcefully removed from the aircraft.
During the process, she was exposed — a detail that has since become a major talking point online.
Simi, who is married to fellow singer Adekunle Gold, condemned the person who posted the raw footage without blurring the sensitive part.
“So let’s say the lady is mad and did too much. Someone recorded her being dragged off the plane. Recorded her being exposed like that and then posted it without editing out this exposure or blurring it out,” she wrote on social media.
The Duduke crooner further queried, “I personally want to know who posted that video and why no one is holding him/her accountable because Aunty will face the law. But voluntarily posting her half-naked for millions of people to see when less than 10 people actually witnessed it in the first place deserves punishment too.”
According to her, the viral video raised serious questions about professionalism and privacy breaches, insisting that “all the actions displayed deserved punishment and accountability.”
On her part, Tacha shared a separate video on Instagram where she accused some Nigerian air hostesses of being warmer to male passengers than to female travellers. She claimed she experienced such bias during a recent business-class trip.
“Female air hostesses are one of the most unfortunate humans in Nigeria because tell me why I’m going to be on business class with a male customer and then you see the air hostess acting all nice and sweet to the male customer and when it comes to my turn she’s having pepper body as if we had an altercation a day before,” she said.
The reality star also alleged that the air hostess involved in the Ibom Air saga may have provoked Emmanson. “If you check very well, that air hostess triggered Comfort and we did not see that part of the story,” she added.
Tacha then appealed to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, to reconsider the airline’s decision to hand Emmanson a lifetime ban, citing the Federal Government’s “Renewed Hope” agenda.
“Please tamper justice with mercy… we don’t want common Nigerians like me thinking we cannot have hope in this country… I feel like if the previous person got six months ban then Comfort should be getting a similar punishment. Getting a life ban is just too much,” she said.
She maintained that Emmanson had already suffered enough public humiliation, with her images “everywhere on Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and every social media network.”
“We have all learnt, I myself I have learned before we enter into the airport to switch off our phones… Please sir, give Comfort a lighter sentence,” she added.
