Louis Ibah
The Police on Monday arrested popular Nollywood actor, Mr Jimi Iyke at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2 (MMA2) Lagos for assaulting a male security staff of Dana Air, but the actor was later released after tendering an apology.
Spokesman for Dana Air, Mr. Kingsley Ezenwa, who confirmed the incident to Daily Sun said the action of Mr. Iyke constituted a breach of the Nigerian civil aviation regulations and that the actor was arrested and also denied boarding by the airline following the assault on the security personnel. “He was very unruly and slapped one of our staff and that’s against civil regulation laws and so we got him arrested by the Police and we also denied him boarding our aircraft,” said Ezenwa.
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“But when he realised he had made a mistake and showed remorse by tendering a written apology to the staff and management of the airline we had to forgive him and let him off the hook,” added Ezenwa.
Daily Sun learnt that Iyke who had arrived late for the Lagos – Abuja bound flight had resisted being screened by the security personnel of the airline as he attempted to beat the security checkpoint to gain speed and board his flight. But the insistence of one of them increased his aggression.
“Iyke arrived late; his flight was supposed depart Lagos at 12:15pm flight, but he came few minutes after 12:00,” said an eyewitness.
In local flights, a traveler is expected to arrive the airport and commence the check-in processes at least an hour to the flight while it’s about two hours on international flight.
“Iyke in the course of the aggression damaged some facilities at the terminal, which led to the airline inviting the police to take charge of the unpalatable situation.
“He was eventually arrested and detained by the Lagos airport police command, but while he was at the station, he reportedly telephoned his lawyer who pointedly told him that his action was wrong and against safety standard.
“He, however, wrote a statement and apologised for his unruly behaviours,” said the eyewitness, a staff at the MMA2.
Ezenwa however told Daily Sun that Mr. Iyke was later checked in into a 6:00pm flight to Abuja out of the airport.
Spokesman for the Lagos Airport police command, Mr. Alabi Joseph, also confirmed the incident to aviation correspondents saying Iyke was released after he tendered a written apology.
