Yesterday, the drama surrounding Peter Obi, the presidential candidate for the Labour Party (LP), who was harassed and detained continued. The party said it was unaware of any alleged apology issued by the British Government or any of its agencies for Obi’s detention by immigration officials at Heathrow Airport in London on Good Friday, April 7.
The rejoinder was contained in a proclamation, yesterday, by the Head, Media and Correspondences of the Obi-Datti Official Mission Gathering, Diran Onifade.
Onifade stated, As our principal, Peter Obi, arrived in London for a brief visit last Friday, we have been receiving inquiries regarding an alleged apology from the British Government or any of its agencies for a routine immigration engagement with him.
“We would like to say categorically that we are not aware of any such apology and have not issued any statement in that regard,” the company stated.
In his statement, Onifade also said that he was confident in the British authorities’ ability to solve the problem.
He went on to say, “Obi and the LP/PCC have since moved on from the incident and continue to be completely focused on the legal processes before the Election Petition Tribunal toward the recovery of our mandate, which we are firmly convinced was overwhelmingly expressed by voters, in the presidential election on February 25.”
Onifade said on Wednesday that immigration officers at Heathrow Airport “harassed” and “detained” Obi for a duplication offense. This suggests that someone has been impersonating Obi in London and is still at large.
Onifade added that Obi’s impostor may engage in a variety of offenses that could result in the LP flagbearer being detained for duplication in the United Kingdom (UK).
Obidients, his followers, who were present at the airport, were also said to have “rescued” the former governor of Anambra State.
Even though the British government hasn’t said anything, a report that a British immigration official admitted he gave Obi the wrong detention note in a search for a man who impersonated him to commit perjury, forgery, and identity theft in the UK emerged yesterday.
An unidentified official was quoted in the report as saying that the unfavorable treatment of the former governor was completely unacceptable.
“We are sorry, the immigration official’s action has been truly appalling.”
The British High Commission in Abuja was contacted for clarification on the development, but Dean Hurlock, the head of the High Commission’s media unit, stated that the mission does not comment on such matters, particularly in relation to individual issues.
Additionally, the National Government was hauled into the occurrence yesterday an assistant of President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmad, tweeted, suggesting that the Central Government mediated in Obi’s experience to get his delivery.
Ahmad penned: I heard Aunty @Abike Dabiri did it for the Compatriot in the UK who needed her help. Ma’am, may God bless you and the services you have provided for our fellow citizens, particularly this one!
Adamu Garba, a former presidential candidate for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), also tweeted that the APC-led Federal Government helped Obi get out of his detention cell in the UK.
Garba, on Thursday, guaranteed Obi’s delivery was worked with by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), headed by Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
He wrote on Twitter: This is the way the public authority of APC assisted with recuperating Obi from his confinement cell in the UK over charges of heading out to the UK with counterfeit reports.
All on account of Abike Dabiri. His mission counterfeit, statement counterfeit, his thought processes phony, even his movement reports are phony. Why?”
However, NiDCOM quickly denied reports that it intervened in Obi’s detention after a fictitious photo posted by Garba went viral on social media.
Abdur-Rahman Balogun, NiDCOM’s spokesperson and head of the Media, Public Relations, and Protocol Unit, called the viral photo a stunt.
He stated that Dabiri-Erewa, the head of NiDCOM, was not in the UK and was unable to secure the release of any Nigerians who were suspected of being interrogated by the UK.
The above social media stunt has been brought to our attention and has gone viral. Aunty Abike Dabiri-Erewa is not in the UK and is unable to obtain the release of any Nigerian suspect of being interrogated by the UK. Thus, individuals from the general population ought to ignore the data completely,” the NiDCOM representative expressed.