The Federal Government of Nigeria has denied news making the rounds that it intervened in the detention ordeal of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in London, United Kingdom last week.
Obi was briefly detained at Heathrow Airport in London in a case of mistaken identity during his trip to celebrate Easter in the UK.
A photo has gone viral on social media on Thursday purportedly showing the executive chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, seated in an office with Obi and a UK law enforcement officer in order to secure the LP presidential candidate’s release from detention.
Also, an aide of President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmad, also tweeted on Thursday, implying that the Federal Government intervened in Peter Obi’s ordeal to secure his release.
Ahmad wrote: “I heard Aunty @Abike Dabiri has done it for the Compatriot that needed her intervention in the UK. God bless you and the services you have been rendering for our countrymen and women, especially this recent one, ma’am!”
But, the spokesperson and head of Media, Public Relations and Protocol Unit of NiDCOM, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, has disowned the viral photo, describing it as a stunt.
He said the NiDCOM boss, Dabiri-Erewa, was not in the UK and not in a position to secure the release of any Nigerian suspected to be under UK interrogation
“Our attention has been called to the above social.media stunt which has gone viral. Aunty Abike Dabiri-Erewa is NOT in UK and NOT in a position to secure the release of any Nigerian suspected to be under UK interrogation. So, members of the public should disregard the information in its entirety,” the NiDCOM spokesman stated.
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