One of the pilots of the Air Peace aircraft, Victory Maduneme, accused of the use of illicit drugs during a flight, has given the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) 72 hours ultimatum to apologize or face court action for defamation of character.
“In the next 72 hours, if NSIB does 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.”
In an interview on Arise television, Maduneme accused the agency of attempting to tarnish the image of Air Peace and ruin her career.
“If NSIB has a smear 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 drugs in her system.”
The NSIB report, which stemmed from a July 13, 2025 runway incident involving Air Peace at the Port Harcourt International Airport in Rivers State, found the pilot and co-pilot involved in drug-taking.
Maduneme narrated that immediately after the flight landed, investigators requested 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 was also taken.
“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.”
Maduneme said on receiving the letter, she immediately sought medical clarification and contested the result.
She was then referred to a licensed clinic for a re-confirmatory test.
“I went to go and meet the doctor.
“And he came to see me. Then he said 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 questioned NSIB’s failure 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 are they not 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.”
