….As house begins probe
Following allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against three Nigerian lawmakers by the United States government, the visas of the trio of Hon Mohammed Garba Gololo (APC, Bauchi), Mark Gbilla (APC, Benue) and Samuel Ikon (PDP, Akwa Ibom, has been revoked by the US Embassy in Nigeria.
One of the accused members, Hon. Mark Gbillah, confirmed the revocation.
He said he “received correspondence from the US Embassy on Wednesday, June 15, 2016 indicating the denial of their US visas and requesting that they bring their international passports with current US visas to the Embassy.”
Consequently, the House of Representatives has commenced a probe of the allegations.
The US government had accused the lawmakers of attempted rape, solicitation for prostitutes from staff of Cleveland Hotel in Ohio during a recent visit of the lawmakers for a leadership training programme.
The ambassador had alleged that “Mohammed Garba Gololo allegedly grabbed a housekeeper in his hotel room and solicited for sex. While the housekeeper reported this to her management, this incident could have involved local law enforcement and resulted in legal consequences for Representative Gololo.
“Mark Terseer Gbillah and Samuel Ikon allegedly requested hotel parking attendants assist them to solicit for prostitutes.”
The envoy had also hinted of the possibility that their visas would be revoked.
“Such conduct could affect some participants’ ability to travel to the United States in the future. U.S. visa holders are expected to observe U.S. law while in the United States. If it is determined visitors have violated U.S. law, their visas can be revoked, even if their behaviour did not result in arrests or convictions, he had said in the letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.
Speaking on the development, Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazak Namdas, said the House has begun a probe into the matter noting that the members remained innocent until proven guilty.
“Ten of our members went to Cleveland, Ohio, US to participate in an International Visitor Leadership Programme on good governance in April.
However, we are in receipt of a letter from the Ambassador of US where he alleged that some of the members were involved in misconduct.
“As a responsible parliament, the leadership has received this letter and is doing its own investigation. When investigations are concluded, we will brief you further.”
“Nobody has been convicted; none of them is before any court of law and once it’s an allegation, it remains an allegation until investigations are over,” Namdas stated.
Meanwhile, two of the accused members have written the US Ambassador and threatened court action over what they described as false allegations against them.
A letter written by Hon Mark Gbillah reads:
“It has come to my attention that via correspondence from your good self to His Excellency, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (a copy of which I also received) you made very serious allegations against me and other members of the House of
Representatives’ group that visited the United States in April 2016 as part of the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP).
“In your letter, you claimed that I was identified as one of the members of the aforementioned group who asked for the assistance of a hotel parking attendant to solicit for prostitutes at the Residence Inn Downtown Cleveland Ohio.
I am extremely shocked, upset, irked and embarrassed by your letter and want to categorically state that these allegations are completely false, unfounded, malicious and a calculated attempt to malign and cast aspersion on my reputation and character as a Nigerian citizen and honourable member of the House of Representatives and to bring disrepute to the hallowed institution of the National Assembly and the entire nation of Nigeria.”
“I have visited the US and several countries in the world countless times over the last several years and have stayed at countless hotels all over the world and want to dare the US government to find any instance where I have previously solicited for prostitutes from a hotel employee even when I was not a married man.
“I am a member of two of the rewards programmes of the parent hotel brand of the Residence Inn (Marriott Rewards and Ritz Carlton Rewards) and the record of my previous stays at all the hotel brands can be obtained to ascertain whether or not I have ever solicited for prostitutes from any hotel employee.
“Although it is very easy to obtain the previous travel history and track record of accused members, it is obvious the US State Department and the US Embassy have presumed our guilt without proper investigation because of the disdain and disrespect they have towards the average Nigerian citizen, even when such citizens are members of the Nigerian House of Representatives, a treatment they will never mete out to an ordinary American citizen who is not even a member of the US Congress.”
“A member of our group made a formal complaint to the organisers of the programme about his being defrauded to the tune of about $100 at the Renaissance Hotel Dupont Circle Washington DC, but neither the US State Department nor the US Embassy in Nigeria has deemed it fit to take any action or initiate any investigation in this regard.”
Credit: pointblanknews
