Why Air France deboarded unruly French national at Abuja Airport

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), on Thursday morning, shed more light on why an unruly French national was deboarded by Air France.

A drama ensued at Abuja International Airport on New Year’s Day when an erratic passenger tried to overpower immigration officials after he was deboarded by airline officials, who described his disruptive behavior in the aircraft as a safety risk for other passengers.

Director, Public Affairs & Consumer Protection at NCAA, Mike Achimugu, said on his X account that the passenger was not allowed entry into Abuja on the grounds that he did not possess a Nigerian visa.

According to Achimugu, the so-called passenger was attended to by staff from the French Embassy and a doctor and then granted accommodation in a hotel within the airport terminal. Later, British Airways declined to airlift him due to the same unruly behavior he had exhibited aboard Air France.

His attempt to fly out on Wednesday via Asky also suffered some hiccups after he could not present evidence of payment for the e-ticket he presented.

“Immigration officials had quite a hectic time handling the erratic passenger, who could be seen littering our clean terminal with what seems to be tissue paper and screaming, ‘My passport, my passport,'” Achimugu said in a tweet.

Aware of the security risks and diplomatic ramifications of the case, NCAA Consumer Protection regional head Miriam Anosike later told Air France that the erratic passenger was becoming a liability to the country and must be airlifted out of Nigeria since the airline had brought him into the country.

“If you are afraid to airlift him, why do you expect other airlines to be responsible for him? Get him a ticket and move him tomorrow (Thursday)!” she said.

Achimugu then assured that NCAA would monitor Air France operations to ensure that the passenger is safely airlifted today.