The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has directed that all mobile phones must be switched off during flight take-off and landing, following recent incidents of unruly passenger behaviour at airports.
Director-General of NCAA, Captain Chris Najomo, announced the directive on Tuesday at a meeting of the National Civil Aviation Security Committee (NCASC) in Abuja. He said airlines would receive a memo to update their protocols accordingly.
Najomo warned that repeated unruly conduct could erode public confidence in air travel, stressing the need for training, retraining, and stronger inter-agency collaboration to safeguard aviation security.
“This engagement is not about blame. It is about analysing failures, deploying corrective measures, closing policy gaps, and reinforcing training and coordination,” he stated.
NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, emphasized that passengers are obligated to obey pilots and cabin crew. He noted that while passengers have rights, they must also uphold their responsibilities to ensure flight safety.
“Globally, unruly behaviour is treated with extreme measures. In Nigeria, we are more humane, but that does not excuse misconduct,” he added.
A representative of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Peter Jiya, identified lack of professionalism among some airport workers as a trigger for unruly incidents, stressing that stricter enforcement and improved conduct were necessary to prevent future occurrences.
