Wole Shadare 
A passenger on Ibom Air Flight Q1300 from Lagos to Abuja, Ogheneochu- ko David, was on Wednesday apprehended for allegedly taking another passenger’s laptop from his laptop in the overhead cabin. Trouble started when the owner of the laptop, who suspected David’s movement within the aircraft, decided to check where his laptop was kept and immediately realised the item was no longer there. Immediately, he raised the alarm by notifying the crew members accordingly.
A search was immediately instituted, which led to about half an hour delay, and the laptop was found with David. He was immediately offloaded and handed over to the Federal Airport Authority (FAAN) Aviation Security (AV- SEC) for further investigation, who then handed him over to the Police for further investigation.
A statement from the General Manager, Ibom Air, Aniekan Essienette stated that the police had since confirmed that the suspect was a member of a large syndicate specializing in stealing onboard aircraft.
The owner of the laptop voluntarily stepped down from the flight to assist with the investigation and promised to follow up with the case to its logical conclusion. She stated that in line with the carrier’s corporate policy, it has zero tolerance for the sort of criminal activity on board its flights and vowed to prosecute any offenders to the full extent of the law.
It would be recalled that one Kingsley Chinsunum was alleged to have stolen the sum of N100,000 from a wallet kept inside a bag in the overhead bin, while on board Ibom Air flight 4150 at Murtala Muhammed Airport International Terminal 2 Ikeja, on May 31, 2023.
