The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has sanctioned Kenya Airways over consumer protection infractions for Gloria Omisore and two other passengers.

The airline was directed to pay a refund and compensation of 1000 special drawing rights to the affected passengers within the next seven days in line with the NCAA Regulations 2023.

In February 2025, a Nigerian passenger, Gloria Omisore, was allegedly mistreated by Kenya Airways’ airline passenger service assistants, prompting the NCAA to invite the airline’s executives to its Abuja headquarters.

A viral video on X showed Ms. Omisore being denied boarding on a connecting flight from Nairobi to Lagos, despite holding a valid ticket.

The viral video showed a representative of Kenya Airways in a verbal exchange with a Nigerian passenger who had arrived in Nairobi in an attempt to connect to Paris, but for lack of a Schengen Visa, she was denied boarding.

The airline representative in the viral video said, “You will never enter our airline again; call your president, call the Nigerian president. We are not going to give you anything. You are not going to fly on our airways again. The passenger, on the other hand, was heard complaining about a 17-hour delay, fuming that she needed a sanitary towel and that she should be offered accommodation and food. But she was left unattended to.”

The airline, during a meeting with NCAA, apologised for their actions and admitted that airline admits that they should never have boarded the passenger from Lagos as they failed to discover the lack of a France transit visa and flew this passenger to Nairobi where she had a 17-hour layover, only to be told that she would have to endure a further 10-hour wait if she must be flown to the UK.

The airline also admitted to having misled the public with an initial statement indicating that the passenger threw a used sanitary pad at their officer at the counter, as well as the passenger refusing a direct flight to London.

Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection unit of the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, in a letter of sanction, said, “The penalties are for consumer protection-related infractions including right to care, failure to provide full disclosure of terms of carriage, failure to respond to the Authority’s request, failure to process refund and compensation, and lost baggage.

“In addition to the fine in line with the NCAA Regulations 2023, the airline has seven days to pay the refunds and compensation of 1000 special drawing rights to the affected passengers. Failure to comply with the letter will attract stiffer penalties for the airline.”