By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has written to the UK Government to thoroughly investigate the Heathrow Airport immigration officers’ assault, humiliation, embarrassment and hours of detention of the Labour Party (LP) candidate in the February 25 presidential election, Mr Peter Obi.

Obi was on Good Friday detained for hours on arrival at the Heathrow Airport on reasons of impersonation as stated by the immigration officers.

The group said: “Chief Peter Obi is a long time UK resident and presumed winner of the Nigeria’s Feb 2023 brutally rigged Presidential Poll and to avoid future occurrence, they should ensure his personal security and safety like those provided for high profile UK residents/citizens.

The above was contained in a letter to the UK Foreign Secretary, the Rt. Hon James Cleverly; the UK Minister of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Dev Office, the Rt. Hon Andrew Mitchell, the Co-Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Dev Office, the Rt. Hon Anne-Maria Trevelyan.

Others are, the UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign, Commonwealth and Dev Office, the Rt. Hon David Rutley, the UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign, Commonwealth and Dev Office (2), the Rt. Hon Leo Docherty, the Lord Alton of Liverpool, David Patrick Paul Alton and the Baroness Cox, and Caroline Anne Cox.

The letter which has since been delivered was signed by Intersociety’s three Principal Officers: Emeka Umeagbalasi, Chidinma Udegbunam Esquire and Ositadinma Agu.

Intersociety’s statement made available to News Express on Friday reeled out its major prayers in its petition, saying: “The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law specifically filed the petition and strongly requested for expeditious and thorough investigations into the 7th April 2023 Heathrow Airport immigration assault, humiliation, embarrassment and hours of detention of Chief Peter Obi, a long time UK resident, legitimate businessman and taxpayer; a moralist and presumed winner of the Nigeria’s Feb 2023 brutally rigged Presidential Poll.

“Apart from expeditious and thorough investigations prayerfully demanded, Intersociety further requested that there should be avoidance of future occurrence of the Heathrow International Airport incident and Chief Peter Obi’s personal security and safety tantamount to that provided for high profile UK residents/citizens also ensured round the clock.

“It was credibly reported that Chief Peter Gregory Onwubuashi Obi was arrested, embarrassed, assaulted, humiliated and detained for hours at London’s Heathrow International Airport by immigration officers acting on false intelligence possibly planted by Gestapo agents holding brief for the outgoing Government of Nigeria.

“According to media reports, the false intelligence was internationally plotted and planted against Chief Peter Obi using an impostor to internationally discredit him as “a serial international financial criminal” involved in series of financial crimes. As a result, Chief Peter Obi was not only held and embarrassed for hours, but also his luggage and other personal items became objects of thorough search and were scattered into pieces and turned upside down.

“His person was also unlawfully put under caution or bodily restricted, arrested and detained for hours before being let off the hook without remorse or apology.

“The 7th April 2023 Heathrow International Airport incident has been found not to be the first in the months gone by. As recently as months gone by in 2022, Chief Peter Obi was surprisingly accosted by the same UK Immigration officers at a UK Airport and sniff-dogs and immigration search officers were let loose on him, claiming that “there was a shared intelligence from Nigerian Government that he (Peter Obi) was moving millions of British Pounds into UK as an international money launderer through an accomplice that traveled with him”.

“Not only that his luggage was scattered and torn to shreds, but also her wife was bombarded with interrogative phone calls from the UK immigration officers. Hours after the embarrassment drama, the captor UK immigration officers found nothing incriminating on Chief Peter Obi and he was allowed to go. This is also more so when it is needless to start reeling out the trauma, embarrassment, degradation, losses and harms meted out to Chief Peter Obi in the recent years gone by, in the hands of the outgoing Government of Nigeria.”

Intersociety noted that apart from attempts to cripple Obi's business empire in Nigeria, he has also passed through countless behind the scene police, anti-graft body and intelligence community invitations, embarrassments and harassments.

Harping on “Obi’s Impeccable Records As Former Elected Public Office Holder In Nigeria, the Rights”, the group said: “It must not be forgotten that Chief Peter Obi is one of the minutest Nigerian elected public office holders being celebrated locally and internationally.

“This was as a result of his enviable “input and output legitimacies” (credible ascension to elective political office and outstanding achievements recorded) when he held sway as the presumed winner of the brutally manipulated 2003 Anambra Governorship Election and eventually the Court-reversed and retuned Governor of Anambra State (17th March 2006 to 17th March 2014; a period of eight years).”

Under the sub heading, “Peter Obi As Long Time UK Resident, Tax Payer And Associate Citizen”, Intersociety said: “From available records, Chief Peter Gregory Obi has been a UK resident, lawful businessman, taxpayer and employer of labor for over 20 years. As duly elected Governor of Anambra State, he pushed back into Anambra State Society what he learned in the United Kingdom where he had lived including not fleecing the public funds and soiling his hands in corruption and other corrupt practices.

“He also ensured that public funds were used for public good and developmentally transformed his State’s human and material resources. Totality of the above earned him an enviable height and made it possible for him to presumably win the Feb 2023 Presidential and stopped from being declared as the ‘duly President-elect of Nigeria’ by INEC and its gangs.

“Intersociety is therefore making bold to say that Chief Peter Obi deserve to be secured and roundly protected under the domestic and international watch of the UK Government.

He also represents the true and only hope for many, if not most Nigerians and if anything untoward happens to his life and dignity of human person, the heaven will let loose and the concomitant humanitarian crises, arising from over 200m citizens, shall be too difficult, if not impossible for the UK Government and its international democratic partners to handle.”

Intersociety further made an additional request that the findings of the investigations above demanded shall be expeditiously and dispassionately acted upon by UK Government.

It noted that such findings must unmask the sources or suppliers of the false intelligence upon which the UK immigration officers unlawfully acted on and that the feathers of those found culpable must be ruffled.

The group also called on the UK Government to direct its High Commission in Nigeria to, at the end of the investigations and their findings, publicly issue an unreserved apology to the person and families of Chief Peter Obi and ensure that such despicable act does not repeat itself in future.

“The UK Airport immigration officers must governmentally be called to order and prohibited from such despicable act again. The respected UK Government should put a stop to such international macabre act and avoid being widely perceived or labeled “an international ally of political office gangsterism and political banditry’ in Nigeria”.

“The danger of the UK Government refusing to do nothing and continuing to shield such international stigmatization, false labeling and criminalization of respected statesmen like Chief Peter Obi on UK soil and beyond is that internationally prohibited and illicit narcotics can be planted on UK soil in the luggage of the Chief Peter Obi or any of Nigeria’s few remaining moralists and democracy champions so as to demonize and discredit them at international borders,” Intersociety added.

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