A member of the Air Peace cabin crew, Victory Maduneme, has raised serious concerns over what she described as a smear campaign by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) following the release of a drug test result which she insists is false and damaging to her reputation.

Recounting her ordeal, Maduneme revealed that the test stemmed from the July 13 runway excursion incident involving Air Peace at Port Harcourt International Airport.

In an interview on Arise television, she explained that immediately after the flight landed, investigators requested biological samples from the crew.

“On the 13th of July, after we had landed, which was the day of the incident, after we had landed and we had to wait for NSIB to come on board, then they came, started their investigation, and five hours later, they asked us to come into a room for them to do a test. So we all went into the room, and our blood samples were taken, and our urine were also taken,” she recounted.

However, Maduneme expressed shock that the results were not immediately disclosed as is customary in aviation. “Normally, when those kinds of tests are done, immediately after a drug test and an alcohol test, you’re supposed to get your result within a few hours or a few minutes, right? But this was not given to us that day. Then, two weeks later, 10 days later, I was called by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to come and pick up a letter… I was in utter shock to see what was in my result, actually,” she said.

Upon receiving the letter, the crew member said she immediately sought medical clarification and contested the result. She was later referred to a licensed clinic for a reconfirmatory test. “I went to go and meet the doctor, and he came to see me, then he asked me that marijuana usually stays in the system for 90 days… I told him I wanted to do the test immediately. The test was done to me and it came out, everything came out negative,” Maduneme stated.

She questioned why the NSIB allegedly failed to notify her airline immediately if the initial test indeed indicated drug use. “If marijuana was found in my system, were they not supposed to tell this to my airline and they are supposed to stop me from flying? Why? Because I’m a risk to the passengers on board and my licence would have been taken away from me. But no, they didn’t inform them of this till after two months,” she argued.

Maduneme accused the agency of attempting to tarnish the image of Air Peace and ruin her career. “If NSIB have a smearing campaign against the airline, they should keep the innocent people away from this. If not for the kindness of my chairman, they would have sacked me and blacklisted me. And once that is done, no airline in the world, I repeat, no airline in the world will pick me because now they’ve painted me as this person that has drug in her system,” she lamented.

Issuing a strong warning, she said legal action was imminent if the bureau failed to clear her name within 72 hours. “In the next 72 hours, if NSIB do not come and reiterate whatever they have said against me, then I think we should sue. This is really very bad. This is pure defamation of character,” Maduneme declared. (Saturday Sun)