Victor Ezeja
Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has ordered a probe into what transpired between Air Peace and Senator Adams Oshiomhole at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, on Wednesday.
In a statement issued on Friday via his X handle, Keyamo said he has been in direct contact with both parties since the incident and urged them to halt their public accusations and counter-accusations.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe minister said he has directed relevant aviation agencies to gather all available evidence and submit a report to his office for resolution on what should be done in similar cases in the future.
“In the wake of the incident at the Lagos Airport last Wednesday involving Air Peace Airline and His Excellency, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, I have been in direct contact with both parties since that morning,” Keyamo stated.
“I also directed the aviation agencies to exercise restraint in jumping to conclusions in line with the time-honoured legal principle of ‘hear all sides’ before reaching judgment.
“Whilst appealing to both sides to halt the public accusations and counter-accusations, I am further directing the relevant aviation agencies to thoroughly look into the issue, collect all available evidence and revert to my office so we can deal with the issue in such a way as to guide future conduct in similar situations.”
Prime Business Africa recalls that Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo State and Senator representing Edo North, missed his flight Air Peace scheduled for 06:30 am on Wednesday and protested, claiming that he arrived at the airport on time.
Air Peace accused Oshiomhole of disrupting its operations after missing a scheduled flight.
Reacting to that, Oshiomhole denied causing any disruption, insisting he was protesting the conduct of the airline towards him and some passengers, who missed the Wednesday morning flight. The lawmaker accused the airline of extorting passengers and arbitrarily changing policy in terms of the closure of check-in time and boarding.
He alleged that Air Peace sold tickets for the flight at spot higher prices to people who didn’t have prior reservations and also demanded additional payments from online checked-in passengers boarding their flight.
Air Peace, however, denied the allegations, stating that the flight took off with 30 empty seats and that all passengers onboard were those who booked online earlier.
The airline challenged Oshiomhole to provide evidence of any passenger who was extorted.
It also urged the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), to release CCTV footage of when Oshiomhole arrived at the airport.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
