Ex-minister, Gbagi declared Wanted by Police in Delta over abuse of staff surfaces eight months later
Kenneth Gbagi, the former Minister of State for Education and a candidate for governor of Delta State in the upcoming 2023 general elections, was arrested on Monday at the state police command in Asaba, eight months after he was declared wanted for assaulting and dehumanizing his workers.
Precious Achibong, Roselyn Okiemute Diaghwarh, Victor Ephraim, and Gloria Oguzie, all employees at Gbagi’s Signatious Hotel in Warri, Delta State, were accused of stealing N50,000 in September 2020.
He had stripped them nude, photographed and videotaped them before handing them over to the cops, who kept them for four days before charging them in court.
The alleged humiliation of the suspects by Gbagi prompted women, girls, and human rights activists to stage a mass protest across the state, demanding that the former education minister be arrested and prosecuted immediately.
Following the former minister’s alleged failure to accept numerous invitations from the state police command, Gbagi was declared wanted by the immediate past commissioner of police, Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG Hafiz Inuwa, force secretary, and member of the force’s management team.
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According to a statement obtained by SaharaReporters and signed by the state’s then-spokesperson, DSP Onomo Onovwakpoyeya, “Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi was invited by the Commissioner of Police via the Area Commander Warri and DPO Ebrumede Division on September 25, 2020 for questioning about the alleged dehumanizing manner in which he ordered some of his staff to be stripped nak”
“Kenneth Gbagi personally and severally called and gave the excuse that he had a burial ceremony of his elder sister on Friday 25/9/2020 in which he was a key player, and asked for time to finish with the ceremony on Sunday, and thereafter report at the state headquarters on Monday, September 28, 2020. These requests were granted on humanitarian grounds.
“On Monday, September 28, 2020, Kenneth Gbagi called the Commissioner of Police to say he had a court case to attend to and promised to report to the Asaba police headquarters by 3:00pm; he was equally obliged. On the same day, the Commissioner of Police had to call him at about 5:00 p.m. to inform him that Kenneth Gbagi was on his way to the state headquarters in Asaba. Kenneth Gbagi, sadly, also failed to report.
Instead, he took to the streets to disparage, blackmail, and malign the Commissioner of Police and the Nigeria Police Force, Delta State Command, for insisting on conducting an investigation into him.
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“Having failed to honour his promises, Delta State Police Command is left with no option but to declare Kenneth Ggbagi wanted. Therefore members of the public with useful information as to his whereabouts are advised to go to the nearest police station to report for his immediate arrest and handing him over to the command for thorough investigation/prosecution.”
However, in a dramatic twist, barely few days after he was declared wanted by the police, Gbagi played a fast on the police and rushed to a Federal High Court sitting at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to obtain a court injunction.
The court presided by Justice Taiwo Taiwo granted the interim order restraining the Inspector General of Police and operatives of the Delta State Police Command and its agents from threatening, arresting or detaining the embattled former minister, Gbagi.
Gbagi had filed an ex parte motion through his counsel, Nkem Okoro, and prayed the court to restrain the police from further going after him pending the determination of his fundamental rights case.
Meanwhile, eight months after he was declared wanted by the police, the former Minister of State for Education, Gbagi surfaced at the state police command, Asaba and met with the commissioner of police newly posted to the state, Mr. Ari Muhammed Ali, in his office.
Speaking during his visit to the police boss, Gbagi, who denied committing the crime, described himself as a peace-loving man.
He said some of his political rivals went out of their ways to purportedly forge a warrant of arrest and declare him wanted to rubbish his reputation.
“Inuwa got carried away to forge this warrant of arrest. The whole idea was to embarrass me just to show to the public that I am a criminal. The case of people who stole in my hotel, Inuwa, undo (sic) the case, demoted and posted DPOs and harassed everybody. How will Inuwa disgrace himself to that level? What is so important in life?” he asked.
Gbagi, however, alleged that a bribe of N10 million was received by the police from his political rivals just to drag his name in the mud.
“N10 million, what is N10 million? There is no secret in this world. The plan was hatched by those who are afraid of my 2023 governorship race. I don’t have any secret. I am not a trouble maker. The warrant of arrest has no division, it was not signed by a Magistrate,” he said.
Gbagi urged the new commissioner of police, Ari Muhammed Ali, to investigate the case of theft and ensure there is justice.
“Don’t support me sir, call for the file and review it. That is all I want,” he said.
