The public policy think tank, the NEO AFRICANA CENTRE, has said that Nigerian authorities have questions to answer over the identity cloning incident which led to the detention and questioning of Mr Peter Obi at London’s Heathrow Airport. It therefore demands that relevant Nigerian authorities, particularly the Nigeria Immigration Service, should explain to Nigerians what it knows about the incident. The Centre said it is insisting on this explanation since reports have confirmed that the International Passport of the impostor who has been passing himself off as Peter Obi was issued by the Immigration Service. It wondered how a government department which is fully digitally compliant and which harbors the identity and bio data of Nigerians can duplicate anybody’s identity, let alone that of a prominent citizen of Nigeria.

In a statement by its Director of Public Affairs, Jenkins Udu, the Centre said it is deeply concerned by the series of mischievous pranks being played around Peter Obi by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria. The think tank said that it recalls with worry the frame-ups and blackmail which the APC and the government at the centre have been heaping on Mr Obi. This includes, among others, the allegation that Obi was promoting insurrection and should therefore be charged with treason, the unwarranted invasion of his privacy by tapping into and distorting the conversation between him and Bishop David Oyedepo of Living Faith Church, and now the cloning of his identity. All these ugly incidents, the centre said, revolve around the ruling party and its government as well as the agencies of the same government. It therefore holds that in order to clear the shadow of doubt and uncertainty around these incidents, government should address Nigerians on them.

The statement reads in part:

“The Neo Africana Centre is concerned about the frame-ups and a web of lies being woven around the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25 elections, Mr Peter Obi, by the federal government and its agencies. Regrettably , all the incidents, so far , are scandalous and border on character assassination.

“More than any other, we take serious exception to the humiliation and embarrassment which Mr Obi suffered last week at London’s Heathrow Airport over the cloning of his identity. This incident must not be glossed over. The concerned authorities, particularly the Nigeria Immigration Service, should take interest in the matter and explain to Nigerians what really happened. The impostor who cloned Obi’s identity did not issue himself Nigeria’s International Passport. The authorities who issued it should speak up.

“We warn that the frenetic turn of events since the February 25 elections leaves much to be desired. Government should not look the other way while anarchists rule and reign. A clear line must be drawn between politics and war.

“The ceaseless hunt for a candidate who participated in the elections is suggestive. It leaves the public with the impression that Mr Obi is seen as a threat to whatever the government and the APC represents. This reinforces the widely received impression that he won the election but was forcibly rigged out. Otherwise, why are his detractors desperate to put him out of circulation?

“This Peter Obi phobia is both pathetic and reprehensible. It portrays government as complicit in the drama of the absurd playing out almost on a daily basis around Obi. A government which chooses to play the ostrich should have no one but itself to blame if things get out of hand.”

•LP Presidential candidate Peter Obi

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