Aisha Yesufu, a human rights activist and co-covener of the #BringBackOurGirls movement, has accused the Federal Government of selective justice in the handling of the case involving Comfort Emmanson, the Ibom Air passenger who was arrested, charged, and remanded in Kirikiri Correctional Centre after assaulting airline staff.
Speaking in a video posted on her official X handle on Monday, Yesufu said the incident exposed deep inequality before the law in Nigeria.
Yesufu contrasted Emmanson’s treatment with that of Fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde, also known as KWAM 1, and former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, who were involved in separate airline-related incidents but faced no arrests or detention.
According to her, she was not against the charges and accusations against Emmanson, but insisted that “Justice must be justice” and must apply equally to all citizens.
Yesufu also condemned the way Emmanson was restrained, alleging that security agents dragged her in a manner that tore her dress and exposed her breasts.
The human rights activist argued that the situation could have been handled with more dignity and questioned why the same force was not applied to other high-profile individuals in similar circumstances.
“We cannot have a nation where we have two justice systems, and depending on your social standing in the society, that will determine the kind of justice system given to you or aligned to you. That is unacceptable.
“The reason it is the rule of law is that it applies to everybody, not that it applies to some people and not to others.
“Just the way they asked King Wasiu to come down. King Wasiu Ayinde, according to reports, actually poured whatever he had in the plane and even stopped an aircraft. But he has not been remanded.
“He sent in an apology letter, and after an apology letter, he was threatening the airline, and nothing has been done to him.
“That is sexual harassment. That is you putting somebody’s nudity in public, while there was literally no need for that to be in a public place.
“You needed to show that you have humiliated her, and now she will forever live with the fact that her body part… is now all out on display, and people will continue to make caricatures with it.
“Imagine the way they dragged her out. Do they even train the security agents on what to do? They dragged her as if they were dragging a chicken, and someone from the back drew her dress so that it tore and exposed her breasts.
“Why didn’t you drag King Wasiu Ayinde out of the aircraft like that? Why didn’t they bundle Senator Adams Oshiomhole and drag him on the floor?
“Why was it only Comfort that they felt comfortable dragging on the floor and displaying her body all over the space?
