Osubi Airport Baggage Search Incident: Sources Say Passenger Came Prepared For Content
Some airport officials and witnesses at Alfred Diete-Spiff Airport, Osubi in Delta State have alleged that the female passenger involved in the widely circulated online video, alleging that she was unfairly prevented from boarding a flight and subjected to a manual search instead of the standard electronic screening process, appeared to have from inception, prepared to make a social media content out of that incident.
AVIATION MONITOR gathered that her actions that disrupted normal operations and the speed with which she made viral video recordings, showed that she came prepared to create a social media content.
Multiple sources say the passenger, Progress Oberiko, when she arrived the airline’s check-in counter, declined to disclose the contents of her luggage when requested by airline staff to do so as part of routine security procedures. It took a long time to persuade her to open her bag for inspection after the airport’s X-ray scanning machine, detected suspicious images. Following established aviation security procedures, the bag was recalled for a physical inspection to determine the nature of the items identified by the scanner.
Rather than cooperate with security officials, she began to record videos with her phone, became confrontational, creating a scene that disrupted normal airport operations and when she opened her bag after a long persuasion effort, it was discovered that the contents were not properly packed.
The viral video she shared had shown that the bag contained tins of canned milk and sardines packed inside the luggage. An official at the airport emphasized that the manner in which the content was packed was inappropriate and so, security officials advised that the items could only be accepted if they were properly packaged in accordance with airline safety and baggage handling regulations. The passenger refused to comply and allegedly climbed the airport’s X-ray screening machine, refusing to come down until her sister eventually persuaded her to do so.
The experience is another reflection of the diversity of behaviours and conduct of some passengers that use Nigeria’s airports. Similar incidents in the past have proved that some air travelers who easily comply with airport protocols at other climes have the attitude of trying to create problems for the system when they find themselves back home in Nigeria. Baggage handling and security screening at airports are procedures governed by internationally recognized protocols.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku has directed an immediate investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
