Detention: Obi Breaks Silence on Alleged Apology from British Govt

By Izunna Okafor, Awka

The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, has denied the reports that he received a letter of apology from the British Government over his detention by immigration officials at the Heathrow Airport in London.

247UREPORTS had REPORTED how Obi was detained in London over what the airport officials described as “impersonation” and “identity duplication”.

Consequent upon the said wrongful detentions, the media space was awashed on Thursday with reports that the British government has apologised to Obi.

However, in his reaction on behalf of his principal, the Head of the Obi-Datti Media, Diran Onifade, on Thursday, debunked the publications, and maintained that there was no such apology so far received by the Anambra former Governor, Obi, from the British Government as alleged.

He said, “We have been receiving inquiries with regards to a so-called apology, purportedly issued by the British Government or any of its agencies, to our Principal, Mr. Peter Obi, in respect of a routine Immigration engagement with him, as he arrived London, for a brief visit, last Friday, the 7th of April.

“We would like to state emphatically that we are not aware of any such apology, and have not issued any statement whatsoever, in that regard. While we continue to examine any dubious or political motive, on the part of the perpetrators of the identity theft, we have every confidence in the ability of the British authorities to resolve the matter, to conclusion,” Onifade said.

He added that Obi and the LP/PCC have since moved on from the incident and continue to be totally focused on the legal processes before the Election Petition Tribunal towards the recovery of their mandate, which they are convinced, was overwhelmingly expressed by voters, in the Presidential election of February 25.

Recall that the Spokesperson of the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign, Daniel Bwala, had said the British government apologised to Obi over his detention at Heathrow Airport.

Obi was, on Friday, accosted by an immigration official at the Heathrow Airport in London, and handed a detention note.

The LP presidential candidate was later released after being questioned for identity duplication, which suggests that someone had been impersonating Obi in London.

Taking to his Twitter account on Thursday, Bwala claimed that the British government has apologised to Obi for illegally serving him a detention note.

He wrote, “British government apologised to Peter Obi for illegally serving him a detention note.

“Can you now put a ‘respek’ on his name? We are now waiting for US government to apologise to Tinubu for illegally collecting the forfeited dollars….”