The passenger at the centre of the viral confrontation at Osubi Airport, Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State, Progress Oberiko, has disputed the account of airport officials, insisting that she never refused to open her luggage or obstructed security screening as alleged.

Oberiko, who had formally complained to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said the officials’ version of the July 22 incident contained “a number of factual inaccuracies” and was published before FAAN’s investigation concluded.

Her response has shifted the controversy beyond the confrontation itself to questions about how passengers are informed of baggage restrictions, the conduct of manual searches and the accountability of aviation security personnel.

In a statement rejecting the claim that she initially refused to open her luggage, Oberiko said she was called into the baggage screening room after checking in and immediately attempted to open a transparent bag containing tissue paper when asked to do so. She said an officer eventually assisted her because it had been tied tightly, before she unlocked her main luggage after retrieving the key from her handbag.

“At no point did I refuse to open my luggage. At no point did I decline to cooperate with airport security,” she stressed.

According to her, the dispute began when security officers started removing perfumes and sealed tinned food from her luggage while repeatedly telling her the items “were not going” without identifying the regulation behind the decision.

Oberiko said her repeated questions about why the items were being removed were wrongly interpreted as confrontation. “What the officials describe as ‘confrontational’ was, in reality, a passenger repeatedly asking reasonable questions about why her personal belongings were being removed from her checked luggage,” she said.

She also disputed the officials’ explanation that the tinned food was not prohibited but had been improperly packaged, saying no such explanation was given during the encounter.

“No one mentioned packaging. No one mentioned the size of the bag. No one explained that the items could travel if repackaged differently,” she disclosed.

Oberiko said the absence of clear communication was what escalated the incident, arguing that passengers should be allowed to question decisions affecting their property without being labelled uncooperative.

She further rejected the allegation that she deliberately climbed onto the X-ray machine, describing the incident as an unintended brief step onto its edge while she attempted to create space as more personnel gathered around her.

On the recording that subsequently went viral, Oberiko said she only started filming after her belongings began to be removed and her questions were allegedly left unanswered.

“The video did not create the incident. It documented it,” she said, maintaining that the footage provided an objective basis for determining what actually happened.

Oberiko also questioned the conflicting information about the status of the items removed from her luggage. She said the NCAA Director of Consumer Protection, who contacted her after the incident, confirmed that perfumes and sealed tinned food are generally permissible in checked baggage.

She said other United Nigeria Airlines personnel had similarly confirmed that such items were generally acceptable, while her review of publicly available aviation guidance had not revealed a blanket prohibition on properly packed, sealed tinned food in checked baggage.

For her, the conflicting explanations underscored the need for clearer baggage regulations and better communication with passengers.

“Passengers should not receive one explanation from airport personnel, another from airline staff, and yet another from aviation regulators regarding what is or is not permitted,” she said.

She called on FAAN, NCAA, airlines and airport management to publish clearer guidelines on permissible and prohibited items and to ensure such information is readily available on airline websites, social media platforms and at airports.

Oberiko also called for an investigation into alleged misconduct at Osubi Airport, stronger customer-service and conflict-de-escalation training for aviation security personnel, improved supervision of manual baggage searches and measures to ensure that such searches were conducted transparently.

She, however, stressed that her response was not intended to undermine the FAAN investigation.

“My purpose has simply been to clarify aspects of the public narrative that I believe do not accurately reflect my experience and to ensure that my perspective is equally available to the public,” she said.

FAAN had earlier announced an investigation after Oberiko’s initial account of the incident generated widespread public reaction. The authority said its Managing Director, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku, directed an immediate probe to establish the facts and determine whether any operational or professional standards were breached.

Airport officials have maintained that the manual inspection was a legitimate aviation security procedure triggered by an unclear X-ray image and that the tinned items were removed because of packaging concerns, not because they were prohibited.

Oberiko said she welcomed the investigation and hoped it would produce reforms rather than simply settle a dispute between two versions of events.

“The best measure of success will not be whether my complaint attracted public attention. It will be whether the lessons from it contribute to a safer, more transparent, and more professional aviation system for everyone,” she stated. (The Nation)

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