By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
Comfort Emmanson, the lady at the centre of a widely publicised incident involving Ibom Air, has shared her account of the events that led to her arrest, arraignment, and eventual discharge by a Lagos court.
In an emotional 11-minute video posted on her Instagram page on Sunday, Emmanson described the August 10 ordeal as “traumatic” and thanked those who supported her throughout the experience.
According to her, trouble started when a flight attendant, identified as Juliana, insisted she switch off her phone rather than place it in flight mode. She claimed the phone had a faulty power button.
She said: “I showed her the phone and told her the power button was bad. She said I could still switch it off through the settings. With the help of a fellow passenger, I eventually managed to switch off both phones,” she explained.
She said situation worsened after the aircraft landed at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos. She said she had gone to the restroom. Upon returning, she found most passengers had already disembarked and attempted to leave the plane herself.
“When we landed in Lagos, everybody was getting out of the aircraft. I went to pee. Coming outside, everybody had already left. I had to rush, carry my stuff and move to rush out of the aircraft. Going out of the aircraft, this lady, Juliana, stopped me and I asked her, ‘Why did you stop me?’ ‘Why are you stopping me from going out of the aircraft? Everybody has left. So I need to go out.’
“She didn’t say anything to me. She stared at me with a bad eye. I picked up my phone and started recording. That was when she pushed me back inside the aircraft, dragged my wig frontal, tore my clothes and broke my necklace. The pain was unbearable.
“They dragged me outside. My body was out there, and then they videoed me in the process. My body was out. I was looking for where to cover it. All of them, the surroundings like videos, cameras everywhere. I was surprised because I never expected that, like tearing my clothes and videoing everything.”
“My body outside, my naked body outside, plus the pain. No, it was so much for one person to bear. I started asking them, ‘Why would you do that to me?’ Why would you do this to me? And still like video me again and still put it out there,” she sad
She said she was forced to react because she was being assaulted.
She said, “God knows I would never poke an elderly woman old enough to be my mother. It was the pain she inflicted on me, dragging my wig and stripping me in public, that made me react.
“They tore my clothes, exposed my body, and people were taking videos. I felt humiliated. Like, the trauma is so much on me because I cannot even go out freely anymore because my body is out there. Some people even turned it into stickers.”
To provide more explanation, Emmanson followed-up her video with a statement on her Instagram story.
She said, “There have been lots of narratives being pushed about the incident, even by respected individuals, some claiming my suffering was political. These are all false. I have received constant victimisation and libel. I only wish for redemption and to regain whatever dignity I have left as a woman,” she wrote.
“I’ve flown with Ibom Air for years and never experienced this. Whatever happened after I was dragged down from the plane came from a place of pain. My swimsuit was clipped below my privates and torn.
“Imagine the pain as a woman. I would never lay hands on someone old enough to be my mother if she hadn’t assaulted me first. I apologise about my behaviour, I am not crazy, neither am I wayward. I have never been in such a situation in my life, and I don’t wish it on my enemy.”