Fuji musician, Wasiu Ayinde aka KWAM1, risks being placed on a ‘no-fly’ list by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, following his unruly behaviour during boarding at the Abuja airport and disrupting flight operations.
In an incident report by Captain Ranti of ValueJet, which was exclusively seen by The Street Journal, the incident occurred on Tuesday August 5.
According to Captain Ranti who was the pilot in command of Flight VK201 from Abuja to Lagos, during boarding which commenced as scheduled at 8:10 am, KWAM1 approached the aircraft at about 08:15–08:20 carrying a gold flask of unknown content.
Ground staff requested, as per standard procedure, to verify the content of the flask but he vehemently refused.
He was seen drinking from the flask and the ground staff suspected that it contains alcohol, a substance prohibited onboard aircraft in Nigeria.
Instead, he responded with comments such as, “Do you know who I am? You have no right to tell me to open my flask.”
“As he reached the foot of the aircraft, security personnel reiterated that he could not board without complying with the inspection. He became confrontational, causing a disruption,” Captain Ranti continued.
“To manage the situation and prevent further delay, I exited the cockpit and approached Mr. Ayinde to engage him amicably. Without warning, he opened the flask and poured its contents on me, the security personnel, and some nearby passengers.
“Following this assault, airport security intervened, and other passengers were allowed to continue boarding. The Head of Security advised that Mr. Ayinde should not be permitted to travel on the flight due to his behaviour. I agreed, prioritising the safety of my passengers and crew.
“After shutting the aircraft doors, I observed that Mr Ayinde was still near the aircraft, obstructing movement. I made a Public Announcement to inform passengers of the delay while security personnel worked to remove him from the area. Once he was moved out of sight, I commenced taxiing and departed for Lagos at approximately 08:50.
“This incident caused significant delay, disruption, and posed safety risks to passengers, crew, and the operation of the flight.”
It was KWAM1’s disorderly conduct which hindered ValuJet’s flight operations as well as a serious breach of aviation safety protocols, that forced the NCAA to suspend two of the airline’s pilots.
Apart from the suspension of the pilots, the aviation authority is considering punitive measures for Kwam 1, such as being put on a ‘no-fly list’, over his unruly conduct.
A ‘no-fly list’ is a database of individuals prohibited from boarding commercial flights due to suspected links to terrorism or other security threats.
The airline is also considering suing the musician for his unruly behaviour which nearly jeopardised its flight operations.
Calls to KWAM1 went unanswered while attempts to get a reaction from him through one of his aides was ignored up until the time of this report.
