Ebola: Actor, Chris Bassey arrested for disrupting Arik Air flight

On August 29, an Arik Air flight from Enugu to Lagos was ruffled by an alarm that female passenger infected with the deadly Ebola virus was on board. It later turned out to be a hoax call as the passenger was tested and found to be free from the virus.

That caller is a Nigerian actor, Chris Bassey. He has recently arrested and would be charged to court on Monday for raising a false alarm and disrupting the airline’s operations.

Bassey it was learnt had called Arik’s customer call centre to alert the airline that his girlfriend who was under quarantine for Ebola had escaped and was on board flight W3 611 from Enugu to Lagos. When the female passenger was tested on arrival at the Lagos airport, she tested negative, prompting the airline to order for Bassey’s arrest.

According to a THISDAY report, “Immediately the flight landed at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) in Ikeja, Lagos, Arik Air’s ground staff who had been placed on alert approached the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) medical personnel, but the FAAN officials at GAT said they didn’t have the requisite equipment to screen passengers for the Ebola virus symptoms.

“The aircraft was therefore taxied to the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport. There, the Port Heath officials supervised the disembarking of the passengers and therefore directed the female passenger to be transferred to the clinic for checks. “The lady was later discovered to be free of Ebola symptoms after thorough examination. She then told Arik Air personnel that her boyfriend who made the malicious call from Enugu did that to smear her name because they had a misunderstanding. She further disclosed that she reported the boyfriend to the Police in Enugu on August 28.”

According to a senior official of the airline who spoke to the newspaper, the incident was similar to hoax bomb calls made by terror organisations to disrupt flights.

He said: “We are on that case. A man reported that a female passenger had Ebola because he didn’t want to her to travel. We have taken it to the police. This is not good for us because it frightens the passengers. It is the same thing they do with bomb threats which force airlines to evacuate passengers. We lose passengers because it makes people to become afraid to travel”.