Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC Edo North) has refuted allegations of disrupting Air Peace operations leveled against him by management of the Airline.
Oshiomhole who made the rebuttal at a press briefing in Abuja, Wednesday, said what he did at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in the early hours of Wednesday was rejection of preferential treatment and standing up against what he described as systemic extortion and poor customer service by Nigerian airlines.
Air Peace had issued a statement where it accused Oshiomhole of allegedly disrupting airport operations after missing a scheduled flight.
The Airline operators alleged that Oshiomhole had reportedly arrived late for Flight P47120, which was scheduled to depart for Abuja at 6:30 a.m.
However Oshiomhole at the media briefing, said his recent experiences with Air Peace highlighted the growing impunity and disregard for passengers’ rights in the country’s aviation sector.
He specifically refuted the claims that he caused a disruption, saying he remained calm but firm, and only intervened when a crowd of stranded passengers, including women with babies, began to protest.
“I didn’t disrupt anything. I refused to let them ‘sort me out’ while others were left stranded. They offered to help me once they recognised me. I said, don’t help me, enforce my rights like every other Nigerian,” he said.
He criticised what he called the “VIP culture of impunity,” where influential people are offered personalised solutions while ordinary citizens suffer.
“That’s the real problem, big men get sorted, and the rest of Nigerians are ignored. If speaking out makes me a troublemaker, then I’ll cause trouble forever,” he said.
He stated further: “I asked the manager, ‘What is this woman’s crime? She has a baby that’s no more than six months old.
“How can you refuse to board her when the aircraft is still on the ground and more people are buying tickets?’ You cannot continue like this. Tomorrow, everyone will blame the government.
“You have regulatory agencies, and they are all compromising. You cannot board people buying tickets on the spot and deny those who booked days ago or checked in online.”
“By the time the DSS and Air Force personnel came to find out what happened, they intervened and offered to put the woman on the next flight, the same offer they had made to me earlier.
But to board that next flight, they told her she would have to pay N109,100. This was in addition to the original N146,000 ticket, meaning she would spend about N256,000 for a one-hour flight to Abuja. There were many others in the same situation, and everyone was shouting at the airport.”