There was a mild drama when an air passenger (names withheld) broke down in tears recently, confessing that his claim of missing luggage from Ibom Air airline was false.
The passenger, who boarded Ibom Air flight QI0319 from Abuja to Lagos, had on February 20, 2023, reported a case of an alleged missing checked-in bag.
On arrival, the passenger raised a concern, claiming that his checked baggage was missing, knowing fully well that this was not true.
Explaining how the incident happened, Ibom Air, in an official statement issued at the weekend, stated that their officers swung into action for proper tracking, adding that it was confirmed that all bags were loaded onto the aircraft from Abuja.
“Due to the passenger’s complaint, constant calls, disturbance, verbal abuse and threat to the company about his alleged missing bag and valuables items (Designer brand shoes, clothes, etc.) contained therein, we requested a replay of the CCTV footage of that day from Bicourtney Airport Services Limited, Managers of the Murtala Mohammed Airport Terminal 2 (MMA2) to ascertain what became of the bag.
“From the CCTV footage, it was discovered that the bag the passenger claimed to be missing was his checked-in bag. The CCTV footage showed when the passenger picked up the bag from the conveyor belt, with a bag tag on it, he proceeded to the restroom where he removed the Bag tag from the bag in order to escape the waiting Ibom Air Security Baggage Reconciliation Team, who would have retrieved our baggage claim tag from him and went straight to the Ibom Air counter, where he raised a false alarm about his alleged missing checked baggage.”
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.
He was, thereafter, invited to the office for further investigation and resolution of the issue. Upon his arrival, he 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.
He was charged to court for the offence punishable under section 168(d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015. He pleaded guilty to the charge and showed remorse for his actions and promised not to repeat them.
In addition, he was also convicted with an option of a fine.