The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has strongly rejected suggestions that it is attempting to sabotage any airline, describing such claims as “extremely insulting.”
This comes after allegations that the bureau’s preliminary report on the July 13 incident involving an Air Peace aircraft at the Port Harcourt International Airport was targeted at discrediting the airline.
Speaking in an interview with Arise Television on Friday, NSIB’s Director-General, Captain Alex Badeh, dismissed the accusations, insisting that the bureau’s work is strictly fact-based.
“We’re in the eye of the storm. Sometimes people react in different ways. We’ve heard them say it’s a smear campaign against the airline, but I must point out this is not our first preliminary report. In my 18 months at the helm of NSIB, we’ve published countless reports — including on Air Peace,” Badeh said.
“It’s a little surprising to suddenly hear about a smear campaign. In every other incident, there was no such claim until now. Again, we’re not here to litigate these issues; we’re here for the facts,” he added.
Badeh also clarified that the toxicology tests conducted on the crew after the incident were not carried out by the NSIB, stressing that the bureau could not make premature announcements on results.
He emphasized that the findings in the preliminary report did not amount to blame or indictment of the airline or its crew.
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