Passenger Removed from Plane in Nigeria for Allegedly Not Turning Off His Phone

A passenger was forcibly removed from an airplane after he allegedly refused to turn off his phone, according to officials.

The incident occurred on Monday, Sept. 1, on an Enugu Air flight — a Nigerian state-owned commercial airline. The flight was scheduled to depart from the state of Enugu for the Nigerian capital, Lagos.

In the video, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) officials try to convince the male passenger to exit the airplane on his own volition. After refusing, the employees wearing neon vests dragged the man out the plane, pulling a curtain off the wall in the process. A passenger sitting in the front row assisted the officials by removing the unruly customer’s grip in the doorway.

The commotion continued outside as employees continued to push the man away from the plane. However, he kept gripping onto the handrails of the passenger boarding stairs. 

In a second clip, FAAN authorities continued to forcibly drag the passenger away from the plane on the tarmac. At one point, a total of six employees wearing FAAN vests circled around the man. 

Obiageli Orah, the director of public affairs and consumer protection at FAAN, told Newsflare the passenger repeatedly failed to comply with safety instructions.

“So far, what we have gathered is that a passenger was meant to switch off his mobile phone, but he refused to abide by that instruction,” Orah said. “Other passengers also asked him to turn off his phone, and when he refused, security personnel on the ground were alerted.”

She added, “The aircraft had to go back to deplane him.”

Orah did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. 

The incident comes less than a month after the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) announced a new unified rule that requires passengers to completely turn off their cell phones during take-off and landing, per local newspaper Punch. The initial announcement was made during an NCAA stakeholders’ meeting on Aug. 19.

Previously, passengers could continue using their phones on airplane mode. However, that’s no longer an option. Some airlines had already required phones to be turned off during take-off and landing.

At the time, NCAA’s director general of authority, Capt. Chris Najomo, said the agency would compel airlines to implement “adequate training of conflict resolutions” for staff.  

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Earlier this year, a woman got into a physical dispute with airline officials after they asked her to turn off her phone. 

On Sunday, Aug. 10, passenger Comfort Emmanson was removed from an Ibom Air plane in Nigeria, traveling from Victor Attah International Airport in Uyo to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, the airline wrote in a statement on Facebook.

After allegedly refusing to switch off her phone, a passenger sitting next to Emmanson reportedly took her phone and turned it off, prompting “a verbal tirade,” according to the airline. The situation eventually calmed down. 

After arriving in Lagos, Emmanson reportedly waited for everyone else to deplane before confronting the crew. The pilot-in-command ended up alerting security, and the passenger was “restrained and removed from the aircraft by force,” the airline continued, adding that Emmanson was then taken into custody by FAAN security before being handed over to the Nigeria Police Force for further investigation.

Emmanson will no longer be permitted to fly with the airline, the airline noted in its statement, adding that the company has a “zero-tolerance policy towards any form of unruly or violent conduct that threatens the safety of passengers, crew or equipment.”