Ibom Air passenger apprehended for alleged in-flight theft

A suspect identified as Ogeneochuko David was apprehended on Ibom Air’s flight Q1300 for allegedly stealing another passenger’s laptop from his bag in the overhead cabin during the flight from Lagos to Abuja on July 26, 2023.

Ibom Air’s General Manager, Marketing and Communications, Aniekan Essienette, disclosed this in a statement issued to journalists in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, on Thursday.

The statement explained that the owner of the laptop, suspecting the movement of David in the aircraft, decided to check where his laptop was kept and quickly raised an alarm when he realised that it was no longer there.

According to the statement: “A search was immediately instituted, which led to about a half-hour delay, and the laptop was found with Mr David. He was immediately offloaded and handed over to the Federal Airport Authority (FAAN) Aviation Security (AVSEC) for further investigation, who then handed him over to the police for further investigation. The police have since confirmed that the suspect is a member of a large syndicate specialising in stealing onboard aircraft.”

Essienette also recalled how one Kingsley Chinsunum was alleged to have stolen the sum of N100,000 from a wallet kept inside a bag in the overhead cabin and how one Mr Adebayi Adelugba, staged the stealing of his own checked-in bag and declared it missing with the intent of suing the airline for negligence but was caught through CCTV footage.

“In line with our corporate policy, Ibom Air has zero tolerance for this sort of criminal activity on board our flights and will prosecute any offenders to the full extent of the law,” she warned.