Comfort Emmanson, the Ibom Air passenger who went viral last week after she clashed with a flight attendant on a journey from Uyo to Lagos, has finally spoken out.
In a video shared on social media, Comfort accused the flight attendant, Juliana, of riling her up her due to her inability to turn off her phone.
She explained that Juliana had approached her during the flight, asking her to turn off her phone.
Comfort said her struggle to do so seemed to have irritated the flight attendant, who then said, “You will see.”
After the plane landed, Comfort claimed that the flight attendant decided to prevent her from disembarking, unlike the other passengers.
Comfort recounted that she appealed to the air hostess to let her leave, but her request was denied.
“When we landed in Lagos, everybody was getting out of the aircraft. I went to pee. Coming outside, everybody had already left. I had to rush, carry my stuff and move to rush out of the aircraft. Going out of the aircraft, this lady, Juliana, stopped me and I asked her, ‘Why did you stop me?’ ‘Why are you stopping me from going out of the aircraft? Everybody has left. So I need to go out.’
She explained that the situation escalated when the air hostess noticed she was recording a video of the incident. Comfort claimed that the air hostess then ripped off her wig and yanked off the gold chain she was wearing, calling her a prostitute. At that moment, her phone also fell, resulting in a broken screen
She didn’t say anything to me. She stared at me with a bad eye. I picked up my phone and started recording. That was when she pushed me back inside the aircraft, dragged my wig frontal, tore my clothes and broke my necklace. The pain was unbearable.
“They dragged me outside. My body was out there, and then they videoed me in the process. My body was out. I was looking for where to cover it. All of them, the surroundings like videos, cameras everywhere. I was surprised because I never expected that, like tearing my clothes and videoing everything.”
My body outside, my naked body outside, plus the pain. No, it was so much for one person to bear. I started asking them, ‘Why would you do that to me?’ Why would you do this to me? And still like video me again and still put it out there,” she sad
Comfort said the pain she was feeling after her wig was removed, made her confront Juliana, hitting her severally.
‘’God knows I can never go and poke an elderly woman, Somebody that is old enough to be my mum. Poke her for what? It ws the pain she inflicted on me, the frontal pain, dragging my gold…that was the anger..I was so angry I could not even hold it. That was why I was like asking her ‘why did you do that ’ in the trending video that was posted. I asked her why did you do that because you dragging my frontal me, calling me a prostitute in the process..I just had to ask her ‘why did you do that?’ That was why I poked her”
She said not long after, the airport security arrived, surrounded her, and began to drag her out of the aircraft, and in the process, her top was ripped up. She stated that airport officials began filming her and attempted to touch her body.
Comfort, who is a realtor, says the whole incident has left her traumatized, knowing that her naked body is all over the internet.
She said, “There have been lots of narratives being pushed about the incident, even by respected individuals, some claiming my suffering was political. These are all false. I have received constant victimisation and libel. I only wish for redemption and to regain whatever dignity I have left as a woman,” she wrote.
“I’ve flown with Ibom Air for years and never experienced this. Whatever happened after I was dragged down from the plane came from a place of pain. My swimsuit was clipped below my privates and torn.
“Imagine the pain as a woman. I would never lay hands on someone old enough to be my mother if she hadn’t assaulted me first. I apologise about my behaviour, I am not crazy, neither am I wayward. I have never been in such a situation in my life, and I don’t wish it on my enemy.”
