The Labour Party (LP) says Peter Obi, its presidential
candidate, was harassed and detained by London immigration officials over
alleged impersonation.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Obi-Datti media office said
the LP presidential candidate was detained at the Heathrow Airport after being
accosted by an immigration officer.
According to the LP media office, Obi was pulled aside for
an alleged duplication offense, implying that he had an impersonator in the
country.
“Obi-Datti media office can confirm that the LP presidential
candidate in the February 25 presidential poll had arrived the Heathrow Airport
in London from Nigeria and joined the queue for the necessary airport protocols
when he was accosted by an immigration official who handed him a detention note
and told him to step aside,” the media team said.
“He was questioned
for a long time and it was very strange for a man who lived for over a decade
in that country.”
The Labour Party added that it took the intervention of
Nigerians who quickly raised their voices asking why Obi was being delayed.
“The immigration officials who were also taken aback at the
reaction of the people were forced to reveal that Obi was being questioned for
a duplication offense, meaning that someone has been impersonating him in
London,” the Obi-Datti media team said.
“The high implication
of the offense is that the impersonator could be committing all kinds of
weighty crimes and other dubious acts and it would be recorded in Obi’s name.
“Obi-Datti Media office recalls that our principal has been
under all kinds of attack, since the February 25, 2023 presidential election in
which as the standard bearer of the Labour Party, he put up an outstanding
showing coming third out of 18 contestants as announced by the Independent
National Electoral Commission, INEC, even though his supporters and many other
election watchers including international observers believe very strongly that
he won the election but was manipulated out.
“Since he was told to go to court if he feels strongly about
the election which all international monitors said was flawed and full of
imperfections and he accepted, there have been severe attacks on him from all
corners.
“It’s also not impossible that those urging him to leave the
country may have planted the impersonators ostensibly to tar the Eagle’s
immaculate appearance.”
The UK immigration office could not immediately be reached to
confirm the detention allegation.
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