A smartphone, three laptops, and other valuable items belonging to three air passengers allegedly went missing on an Abuja-bound Air Peace flight on Friday.
An affected passenger, who was on the flight, confirmed the incident to our correspondent on Saturday, adding that items belonging to a Briton and an Indian also got stolen.
The incident, occurring on the last flight around 7:00 pm, reportedly left the passengers stranded upon arrival with no concrete explanation from the airline.
One of the affected passengers, Lere Adams, said the theft was discovered upon arrival at the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport, Abuja, prompting immediate complaints to the airline.
In a telephone chat with The PUNCH, he expressed dismay, stating that it occurred on the airline’s last flight for the day.
He accused the airline of mishandling their personal belongings and displaying a lack of concern, despite promptly reporting the theft of valuable items from their luggage upon arrival.
He recounted, “I had my luggage with me; it was light hand luggage. As soon as I boarded, I put the luggage in the overhead cabinet. My phone battery was low, so I plugged it into a power bank in my bag and switched off the phone. When we landed in Abuja, I realised I could not locate my phone.”
He explained that he was not the only affected passenger; adding that an Indian and an American passenger were also affected, as they discovered when retrieving their bags from the overhead lockers.
“Then, I saw an Indian that was complaining about the same thing: that he could not find his wallet and his laptop that was in his bag, and suddenly there was also a White man who had a backpack that was on top of him with two laptops and as soon as he got to Abuja, he looked for laptops but could not find them.
“While we were talking about the incident, one of the officers came and asked who owned a bag. Lo and behold, it was his bag, but it was without his laptops. He was asking how he got the bag. The officer replied that the air hostess said they found it in the cabin and the foreigner said it was impossible and asked where the laptops that were inside were.”
Lere listed the items stolen from him, including, “My phone plugged into a diary that has a power bank, three laptops, and a wallet”.
He added, “The American had two laptops, one official and one private laptop, while the Indian had an official laptop and a wallet. We informed the airline staff and statements were taken from the affected passengers.”
According to Lere, the airline has contacted their Lagos headquarters and is currently investigating the incident.
“I was told this morning that they have reached out to their Lagos headquarters. And they said they were currently working on it. But so far, they have not given a direction as to what the way is,” he stated.
He lamented, “I am truly upset because all of our personal and banking information is on that phone.”
Responding, The Director of Consumer Protection & Public Affairs of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Michael Achimugu, said no official complaints had been made to the agency but promised to contact the local public protection officer in charge for further explanation.
“I am hearing this for the first time. The right process is to complain to the airline first, as they handle the baggage. If the airline does not take appropriate action, then the affected passengers can report to the NCAA.
“Airlines have policies against carrying valuables in overhead cabinets; these items should be declared,” he noted.
Achimugu also mentioned that he would contact the local public protection officer to gather more details about the case.
“I will find out if such a thing happened and get the details,” he promised.
As of the time of filing this report, the Communications Operations Officer of Air Peace, Stanley Olisa, did not respond to several phone calls and text messages sent to him on the issue.
