The Close Circuit Television (CCTV) at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Two (MMA2) has exposed a passenger who raised false missing bag claim on Ibom Air Abuja– Lagos flight on Monday, March 20,2023.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by the management of Ibom Air and made available to AbelNews yesterday.
The statement said that of recent the aviation industry has been under siege in Nigeria, with a deluge of issues that keep coming up, requiring airlines to be extra vigilant.
According to Ibom Air management, on February 20, 2023, there was a case of an alleged missing checked-in bag by a passenger,whose identity the airline did not disclosed, who boarded Ibom Air flight QI0319 from Abuja to Lagos.
It explained that when the aircraft arrived Lagos , the passenger raised a concern, claiming that his checked-in baggage was missing, knowing fully well that this was not true.
The airline noted that following the alarm, its officers swung into action for proper tracking, adding that in the process of tracking the baggage, It was confirmed that all bags were loaded onto the aircraft from Abuja.
The statement said that due to the passenger’s complaint, constant calls, disturbance, verbal abuse and threat to the company about his alleged missing bag and valuables items such as designer brand shoes, clothes, among other items contained therein, Ibom Air requested for a replay of the CCTV footage of that day from Bicourtney Airport Services Limited(BASL), managers of the Murtala Mohammed Airport Terminal 2 (MMA2) to ascertain what happened to the bag.
The airline said that from the CCTV footage, it was discovered that the bag the passenger claimed to be missing was his checked-in bag and that the CCTV footage showed when the passenger picked up the bag from the conveyor belt, with a bag tag on it and then he proceeded to the restroom where he removed the bag tag from the bag to escape the waiting Ibom Air Security Baggage Reconciliation Team, who would have retrieved the baggage claim tag from him and went straight to the Ibom Air counter, where he raised a false alarm about his alleged missing checked-in baggage.
Explaining further, the informed that when it was established that there was no missing bag and that the passenger was dubious in his claim, the case was reported to the terminal’s aviation security and police.
The airline added that thereafter the passenger was invited to the office for further investigation and resolution of the issue.
On getting to the office, the carrier said the passenger stood his ground and was handed over to the security agencies where he made his statement.
When confronted with the CCTV footage, he broke down and confessed to the crime.
According the statement, he was charged to court for the offence punishable under section 168(d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.
The passenger was said to have pleaded guilty to the charge and showed remorse for his actions and promised that such action will not to repeat itself again.
He was convicted with an option of a fine.
“This statement was issued to deter unscrupulous elements who are hell-bent on tarnishing the image of airline operators while seeking illegitimate gain.
‘We would further like to assure our highly valued passengers of our continuous strive for excellence and the safety and security of our passengers and their checked baggage in our care,” the management said.
