The row between the Emir of Kano and Air Peace deepened on Saturday with Isa Bayero, cousin of Aminu Ado Bayero, Emir of Kano, giving the airline a 72-hour ultimatum to offer an apology for allegedly ‘disrespecting’ the monarch and causing a delay to his flight.
Bayero had written a letter of complaint to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), seeking punitive actions against Air Peace Airline for what he tagged “disrespect to the emir and the people of Kano State.”
But Air Peace reacted, saying that it did not disrespect the Emir of Kano as alleged in the petition.
The airline’s Chief Operating Officer, Toyin Olajide, argued that Air Peace holds the Emir of Kano in the highest regards and contrary to the insinuation that the emir was disrespected, the airline indeed protected the image of the traditional ruler “by not succumbing to what Isa Bayero wanted us to do.”
But a defiant Isa Bayero, who is the Chief Protocol Officer for the Emir, said: “I am giving an ultimatum of 72 hours for Air Peace to tender an apology to the emir, first in a national daily and secondly to come down in person to the emir. We would not hesitate to go extra miles to correct the ‘misnormal’.