Eyewitness Recounts Altercation Between Ibom Air Hostess and Passenger

David Ogede, a lawyer who was on board the Ibom Air flight where passenger Comfort Emmanson clashed with a flight attendant on Sunday, has given his account of the incident.

Speaking Thursday on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, Ogede said the confrontation began when an air hostess asked Emmanson to switch off her phone, in line with the airline’s instruction for all passengers to power down devices completely, no flight mode.

“I heard everything that transpired, and yes, she was triggered,” Ogede said. “Sitting there, I actually felt humiliated with the way the air hostess was speaking to her.”

According to him, Emmanson explained twice that her phone buttons were not working and asked the attendant to help turn it off. “The woman said, ‘I’m not touching your phone… just switch it off. I don’t have time for your nonsense,’” he recounted, adding that the attendant’s body language suggested she “came for trouble.”

The exchange, he said, escalated in the aircraft’s emergency exit area before the flight’s departure.