Oshiomhole accuses Air Peace of extortion, denies disrupting flight operations

Oshiomhole

Adams Oshiomhole, senator representing Edo north, has denied claims by Air Peace that he disrupted the airline’s operations after missing a flight.

Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo, said instead of causing a disruption, he stood firm against what he described as extortion and arbitrary policy changes by the airline.

Air Peace had, in a statement, accused Oshiomhole of arriving late for a flight scheduled to depart Lagos for Abuja at 6:30 am.

But addressing journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, Oshiomhole said he arrived at the airport on Tuesday at 6:10 pm for a 6:50 pm flight and met the airline’s 30-minute check-in deadline.

“Yesterday, I got to the airport 40 minutes ahead. My luggage was already checked in. But they told me they had stopped issuing boarding passes. Meanwhile, I saw others arriving after me who were allowed to board,” he said.

Oshiomhole said despite holding a business class ticket, he was denied boarding while his aide was allowed through.He said the incident forced him to lodge at a hotel, where he paid N1.5 million to accommodate himself and two Ghanaian passengers who were also stranded.

The senator said he returned for the 6:30 am flight the next morning, having checked in online at 7:46 pm the previous night.

The politician said he was again turned back, along with other passengers, after a “sudden” change in policy that now required passengers to check in 45 minutes before departure — up from the usual 30 minutes.

“I got there at about five minutes past six. They told me the counter was closed. I told them, ‘No, I’ve already checked in.’ I showed them the evidence of my online check-in,” he said.