Reno Omokri, a staunch supporter of President Bola Tinubu, has warned Nigerians against allowing the former Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to set the country on fire.
Omokri said Obi, in his desperation to be Nigeria’s president, would say anything, including twisting facts.
He was reacting to Obi’s comment questioning the call by Nigeria’s aviation authorities, twisting the sequence of events in the clash between Ibom Air passenger, Ms. Comfort Emmanson, and a hostess of the airline.
Posting on X, Omokri wrote: “Comfort Emmanson/Ibom Air Saga: Peter Obi Is Desperate. Nigerians Should Not Let Him Set Nigeria on Fire.
“Too critical a mass of the Nigerian people are so emotionally led that they tend to use ‘sense’ to make judgments instead of relying on what cannot lie, facts.
“Please fact-check me: Once you have boarded a plane, and it is announced that boarding is completed, it is against International Civil Aviation Organisation rules for you to disembark, whether voluntarily or forcefully, without the airline first communicating with airport security, and security personnel coming to escort you out.
“Before you argue, please read the ICAO rules or simply use an AI to search for ‘can you leave a plane after boarding?’
“You can’t decide on your own to deplane from a plane, whether or not you feel you have reasonable grounds. There is a protocol to follow.
“The reason is that terrorists have in the past planted explosives on planes and then, at the last minute, feigned an excuse to leave that plane after placing explosives or other dangerous devices on the aircraft.
“The proper procedure when you want to deplane is for the aircraft crew to inform airport security. Then, they come and either wait for you at the plane’s door or enter the plane and physically remove you.
“Even at that, the plane cannot still depart unless the appropriate officials remove your checked-in luggage and everything else you must have brought on the flight, and then check that the plane has not been compromised.
“Having a quarrel with an airline host or hostess about whether or not your phone is on airplane mode or switched off is not a ground for you to opt out of the flight and deplane on your own volition, without security officials intervening. That is not just indiscipline, it is a criminal offence!
“Please fact-check me: By ICAO regulations, disobeying an airline crew, whether or not you disagree with their instruction, is an automatic criminal offence that can result in fines, arrest, and imprisonment.
“If the airline allows such unruly behaviour without reporting it, it is also in violation and can face very severe penalties, including license suspension.
“This situation is completely different from that involving King Wasiu Ayinde Marshall, AKA K1 De Ultimate.
“There is a difference between defying officials outside a plane, which is what K1 De Ultimate did, and violence on and off the plane, which is what Ms. Comfort Emmanson did.
“In the United States and Europe, passengers have been banned for life for much minor offences. For example, in the US, Ms. Erin Wright was banned for life for having sex on a plane.
“Also, a British passenger, Alexander Michael Dominic MacDonald, was banned for life and fined $20,638 for refusing to obey air hostesses on a United Airlines flight.
“Peter Obi releasing a statement this morning questioning the call by Nigeria’s aviation authorities, twisting the sequence of events, and inserting himself as a judge and jury is unfortunate behaviour from a man who wants to be Nigeria’s President.
“Nigerians are largely emotional and need a rational leader to guide them along the lines of facts and law and order.
“Peter Obi is not such a person. He follows the crowd, whether they are right or wrong. His statement yesterday was provocative and could have incited the public. Moreover, it was based on a wrong premise.
“How can Nigerians expect a man who does not know what the word ‘defection’ means and was arguing with Dr. Reuben Abati that he had never defected from a party, he ‘just left,’ to give them guidance on a sensitive issue like the one concerning Ms. Comfort Emmanson?
“Peter Obi is desperate to be Nigerian President and will say ANYTHING, no matter the consequences. He also has a cult following primarily based on ethnicity, and his followers will blindly support him.
“But if we, as Nigerians, can focus on the facts, we will not unnecessarily be incited to heat the polity, undermine our institutions, and country.”
