Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised what he described as “double standards” and “inadequacies” in the handling of the recent Ibom Air incident involving Miss Comfort Emmanson.
In a statement on Monday, Obi apologised to the Ibom Air crew allegedly assaulted by Emmanson, stressing the importance of upholding good conduct as “a true measure of success and decent living.” However, he condemned what he called the “dehumanising” act of publicly stripping her, describing it as “the height of rascality and abuse by our agencies.”
“It is unacceptable that she was hurriedly taken to court and remanded, while someone who visibly held a plane from taking off and put hundreds of lives at risk is still at large,” Obi said, adding that some officials were even calling for the latter’s forgiveness.
He argued that the case reflects a wider issue of selective justice in Nigeria. “Justice must never be about who is poor or powerless versus who has influence or access to government officials,” he said.
Obi maintained that Emmanson’s alleged offence was minor compared to “the crimes committed daily by those parading themselves as excellencies while looting public funds without consequence,” yet such figures “have not been stripped or dehumanised in the name of justice.”
He called on the Minister of Aviation and relevant authorities to explain the disparity in their actions, insisting that “justice must be just, or it is nothing at all” and that the rule of law must remain “the guidepost of our democracy.”
