Abuja based social activist and lawyer, Mr. Pelumi Olajengbesi has declared that the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has no powers to impose a “no-fly” restriction on any individual under the law,
The lawyer also took a swipe on the Nigerian Police for resorting a “a judicial shortcut” by hastily arraigning Ms. Comfort Emmason, a passenger on Ibom Air without due process and fair hearing.
Speaking through a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, Mr. Olajengbesi revealed that “The latest example is the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) purporting to place a lady involved in a physical fight today on a “No Fly” list. I wish to state categorically that no provision of the Civil Aviation Act, 2022, nor any other extant law in Nigeria, empowers the AON, a mere voluntary trade association, to impose a No Fly ban on any individual. Such an action is reckless and an affront to the Nigerian Constitution, particularly the fundamental rights of the affected individual.”
According to the lawyer, “The only body legally empowered to issue and enforce nationwide flight restrictions is the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), pursuant to Sections 31 and 32 of the Civil Aviation Act, 2022. AON is not a statutory regulator and has no legal mandate to unilaterally abridge the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of movement under Section 41 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).”
Speaking on the arraignment of Ms. Emmason, the lawyer stated that “the hasty arraignment and subsequent remand of the lady, without affording her adequate time and facilities to prepare her defence, constitutes an abuse of the judicial process and a blatant violation of her constitutional right to fair hearing as enshrined in Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). Such procedural shortcuts erode public confidence in the justice system, weaken the rule of law, and send a dangerous message that Nigeria is gradually encouraging impunity where institutions and actors operate outside the bounds of legal authority without consequence.
“In every dispute, there are always two sides to the coin. Not even a native doctor can definitively determine who is right or wrong without properly hearing from both parties. Justice must remain the bedrock of our society, anything less is an invitation to lawlessness.”
