A politician who was on a plane that landed in the wrong city in Nigeria has told BBC Igbo that he felt “insulted” by the airline’s refusal to issue a proper apology for the mistake.
The United Nigeria Airlines plane flew from the main city, Lagos, and was due to land in the federal capital, Abuja.
Instead, it landed more than 450km (280 miles) away in another city, Asaba.
United Nigeria Airlines said the flight had been diverted to Asaba due to “poor destination weather”.
But in a BBC Igbo interview, passenger Salihu Tanko Yakasai – who ran for the governorship of Kano state in elections earlier this year – said the “sky was clear”, and the pilot announced that he had received the “wrong flight plan” from Lagos.
He added that the announcement came after the plane’s doors had been opened, and some passengers were “agitated” as they could see they were not in Abuja.
The flight crew had earlier made an announcement, welcoming passengers to Abuja, Mr Yakasai said.
His account is similar to a passenger who said on X that “upon arrival, the cabin crew confidently announced that we’ve arrived in Abuja only for us to realise we landed in Asaba”, adding that “apparently, our pilot was given [the] wrong flight plan from Lagos”.
In its statement United Nigeria Airlines said: “At all material time, the pilot of the aircraft was aware of the temporary diversion and was properly briefed.
“However, a wrong announcement was made by cabin crew upon landing safely in Asaba, creating confusion among passengers.”
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority said it was investigating the incident.
