Passenger allegedly steals N1m onboard Air Peace

Air Peace has reported that one Vitalis Nwabuzor onboard Abuja-PHC flight P47192 on July 27, 2023, allegedly stole N1 million but was nabbed afterwards.

The airline in a press statement issued on Wednesday, August 2, 2023, by Stanley Olisa, its spokesperson, stated that Nwabuzor ‘stole’ the said amount contained in a brown envelope but was caught by the owner of the money and with the intervention of the airline’s staff.

“During the flight, Nwabuzor took another passenger’s computer bag from the overhead cabin, took the brown envelope containing the money, put the computer bag in another luggage compartment and moved to an empty seat at the back of the aircraft.

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“He was one of the first few to disembark despite the announcement of proper disembarkation sequence by the crew. He was eventually caught and the money retrieved from him. Different currencies in different denominations were found on him”, the statement said.

The passenger was handed over to the security operatives of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, for onward transfer to the police for further investigations. The police confirmed to have released him on bail and said the chance of prosecution is slim as the owner of the money is unwilling to follow up.

Olisa stressed that Air Peace staff will continue to be security conscious and urged passengers to be more careful with their personal items on board.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.