A row between Isa Bayero, cousin of Aminu Ado Bayero, Emir of Kano and Air Peace airline has elicited a flurry of reactions.
Bayero had written a letter of complaint to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), seeking punitive actions against Air Peace Airline for what he tagged “disrespect to the emir and the people of Kano State”.
But Air Peace reacted saying that it did not disrespect the Emir of Kano as alleged in the petition.
In the petition to the NCAA seen by The Nation, Bayero, popularly known as Isa Pilot, said the airline delayed their Banjul to Lagos flight by over one hour and refused to allow them to board their connecting flight to Kano because they arrived in Lagos 30 minutes before departure time.
The petition claimed that Bayero called the Air Peace Chairman, Allen Onyema, to inform him of the need to delay the airline’s morning flight to Kano because of the Banjul incident.
Bayero said: “We, 10 of us, including His Highness Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, Sarkin Kano and four other business class passengers with additional other five economy class passengers all boarded our return Air Peace flight No. P47776 from Banjul to Lagos.
“Our departure from Banjul was scheduled for 00:10hrs (local time) on 24th February 2022, however, we departed Banjul at 01:19hrs and we landed at Lagos at 5:45 am. Our connecting flight to Kano on the same Air Peace airline was for 6:15 hrs. This gave us only 30 minutes to make our flight to Kano.”
But in its response, Air Peace described the allegations as ‘deliberate falsehood’.
The airline’s Chief Operating Officer, Toyin Olajide, argued that Air Peace holds the Emir of Kano in the highest regards and contrary to the insinuation that the emir was disrespected, the airline indeed protected the image of the traditional ruler “by not succumbing to what Isa Bayero wanted us to do.”
Olajide explained if the airline had agreed to stop and delay an aircraft, already set to take-off, for another one hour only for the doors to be opened and the Emir to walk in, there would have been a very serious uproar in the media nationwide against the airline and the Emir.
“This we pleaded with Isa Bayero to understand but he refused to accept.
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“How could Isa Bayero want the Management of Air Peace to stop and delay a fully boarded plane with doors already shut and aircraft already moving while our respected Emir and eight others in his entourage, including Isa Bayero, were still at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos after arriving from Banjul?”
She disclosed that she called Isa Bayero to explain the status and proffer a solution, which would be a win-win for the waiting passengers and the Emir, adding that they decided instead to fly the Emir and his entourage on the 7 am flight to Abuja and then from Abuja to Kano at no extra cost.
The COO added that the decision was then to fly them from Abuja to Kano still in the morning considering the next flight from Lagos to Kano was at 7: 00 pm.
“We took this decision so as to defend the image of our highly revered Emir of Kano and not as an insult as insinuated by Isa Bayero because if passengers were delayed for an hour after boarding and ready to fly and then to see the Emir and his entourage walk in, considering the pulse of the general public lately due to the complaints of delays, it would not have done justice to the image and character of the Emir.
“After explaining this to Isa Bayero, he threatened that he would incite the people of Kano against the Airline if we did not stop the flight.
“When I reported this statement to the Chairman, he did not believe me and insinuated that I may not have heard him right because Isa Bayero was well acquainted with him and could not have said such.
“It is therefore to my utmost shock that we saw in the media this deliberate falsehood,” she said.