Air Peace accuses Oshiomhole of ‘Unruly Conduct’ at Lagos Airport
…Senator fires back at airline, alleges extortion, discrimination
By Chinelo Obogo
A dispute erupted at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos on Wednesday morning between Air Peace and Senator Adams Oshiomhole, with both parties offering different accounts of what led to disruption at the terminal.
Air Peace issued a statement condemning what it described as the “unruly conduct of a prominent politician” whom the airline said arrived at Terminal 1 at approximately 6:10am for Flight P47120 scheduled to depart for Abuja at 6:30am.
According to the airline, Oshiomhole missed the flight due to the closed boarding process and then resorted to violence by physically assaulting their members of staff and forcefully barricading the entrance of the terminal. The airline said due to the senator’s actions, it was forced to activate contingency plans and boarded the affected passengers through another terminal.
Responding to the airline’s allegations in Abuja on Wednesday, the former Edo State Governor and painted a different picture, accusing Air Peace of extortion and discrimination. Oshiomhole said that on Tuesday, he arrived 40 minutes before his 6:50pm flight but was denied boarding despite meeting the airline’s 30-minute check-in deadline. “My luggage was already checked in. But they told me they had stopped issuing boarding passes. Meanwhile, I saw others arriving after me who were allowed to board,” he explained. Oshiomhole said he was turned away despite holding business class tickets, while his aide was permitted to board, leaving him with a hotel bill of N1.5 million to accommodate himself and two stranded Ghanaian passengers.
He said the situation escalated the following morning when he arrived before 6:00am for the 6:30am flight, having completed online check-in the previous evening at 7:46pm. “I got there at about five minutes past six. They told me the counter was closed. I showed them evidence of my online check-in, but they still said the gate had been closed. Meanwhile, I noticed they were still taking other people in,” he said.
The senator then alleged that Air Peace was selling last-minute tickets at inflated prices while denying boarding to passengers who had booked online at lower rates. “A lady bought her ticket for N146, 000 online. She arrived at the airport at 5:55am for the 6:30am flight. They told her she was late and would have to wait for the next flight. Meanwhile, the airline was selling tickets on the spot for N250, 000,” he alleged.
He claimed that he witnessed seeing passengers with similar experiences, including a woman with a six-month-old baby who was charged an additional N109,100 on top of her original N146,000 ticket to board the next flight. He denied causing disruption, claiming that he refused the preferential treatment the airline offered him. The senator said he intervened when stranded passengers, including women with babies, began protesting, and confirmed he sent N500, 000 to assist the woman with the infant.