Pregnant woman dies aboard Arik Air flight

Olawunmi Ojo and Gbenga Adeniji

Barely 48 hours after a middle-aged female passenger was found dead in a toilet at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, another female passenger, on Friday, died aboard an Arik Air flight 749 from Port-Harcourt to Lagos.

The passenger, who was said to have been pregnant, was accompanied on the 11am flight by her husband and cousin.

A statement by Arik Air’s Public Relations and Communications Manager, Adebanji Ola, stated that the passenger was confirmed dead on arrival in Lagos by medical personnel at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Domestic Terminal 1.

The cause of death, according to the statement, was yet to be ascertained.

When contacted to confirm the identity and whereabouts of the corpse, Ola declined to comment, saying that there was nothing more to say than to confirm that a female passenger was confirmed dead on arrival.

The Lagos Airport Police Command also confirmed the incident.

The command’s spokesperson, Joseph Alabi, told Saturday PUNCH that the command was aware of the case and gave the name of the deceased as Ijeoma Akaegbu.

Sources at the airport had earlier identified the passenger as Ijeoma, 39, saying she allegedly developed complications while on board.

The pregnant woman was said to have been attended to by medical personnel on board the flight.

The General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mr. Yakubu Dati, also declined to comment on the issue.

He said it was an Arik Air affair, and that the company should be allowed to handle the matter.

Dati, however, dismissed insinuations that the deceased died at the airport, saying that any report suggesting such was misleading.

Pregnant woman dies aboard Arik Air flight