Chief Kenneth Gbagi
Abasifreke Effiong
The police have ordered the arrest of former Minister of Education and Chairman of the Nigerian Legal Aid Council, Chief Kenneth Gbagi, for forcing four of his staff to strip their clothes.
Gbagi reportedly accused the said staffs of stealing his money. He forced them to strip to the pants and ordered his 15 years old son, Master Egba Gbagi, to film their nudes and post on social media.
The four accused persons, name withheld, were until recently staff of Signatious hotels and suites limited, Effurum, Delta State, a hospitality outfit owned by Chief Gbagi. One of the four accused persons whose nude photos are currently being shared on social media is a married woman.
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It was gathered that Chief Gbagi on Thursday 17th September 2020 took the four workers to his office and forced them, with the full support of policemen attached to him, to undress.
The nude photos of the affected workers at Chief Gbagi’s Signatious hotels and suites which have since flooded social media were sent to The Dune on Thursday evening.
The four victims of Chief Gbagi’s animalistic torture are seeking legal redress and one billion Naira in compensation from the former Minister of Education.
In a letter, attorneys of the four helpless victims of Gbagi’s brutality and torture, Barr Olukunle Edun, Barr Nyerhovwo Ohre, Barr Othadua Okpakpor, Barr John Smart, Barr Alfred Ogunli and Barr Austin Akanyo, said they will seek full legal redress against the former minister, his son and police officers who were accomplices in the torture of their clients.
The letter by the victims’ attorneys mailed to The Dune reads:
“That on the 30th of August, 2020 while in the ordinary course of their duties at Signatious Hotel welcomed a guest into the Hotel. The guest requested for a room and was given Room 301 which rate was N25, 000. 00 (Twenty Five Thousand Naira) per night. The guest did not have his ATM Card with him and requested to do a transfer to the accounts of one of our clients (Victor Ephraim). The guest stayed for four nights and paid for each day he stayed. The Hotel acknowledged receipt of the four nights that he stayed.”
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“That after the guest’s stay, he gave our clients the sum of N105, 000.00 (One Hundred and Five Thousand Naira) as tips for the good time that he had at the hotel. This again, is not unusual in the hospitality business. That the Hotel did not lose any money neither was any alleged to have been stolen.”
“That when you got wind of what happened (most likely you refused to believe that there are still honest Nigerians) you summoned our clients to your office immediately and subjected them to tortuous interrogations (in the presence of your armed mobile policemen) where you demanded that all the tips given to our clients must be returned to you. You told our clients menacingly that they are not entitled to tips, as all tips belong to you. As a matter of fact, you categorically stated that they were not supposed to have monies in their accounts as long as they were working for you. This is not surprising, because according to our clients, you hardly paid staff salaries regularly and at times the staff worked without pay for months.”
Nude photos of the four staff of Signatious Hotels and Suites. Effurun, Delta State stripped by Nigeria’s former Education Minister.
“That on Thursday, the 17th of September, 2020 you forcibly took our clients to the Hotel warehouse and later to your office (also at the Hotel’s Restaurant) in the presence and active assistance of the armed mobile policemen (paid by tax payers) and at gunpoint ordered our clients to pull off their clothes. Our clients pleaded profusely for your mercy but you showed them none. One of our clients, Mrs. Precious Archibong, knelt down and cried for your mercy because she is a married woman (a fact which you are aware of) and no one except her husband was supposed to see her nakedness but the milk of mercy never came from you. With the threatening presence of the armed policemen who willingly did your bidding, you directed your son of 15 years old (a minor) Master Egba Gbagi, to film and take photos of our clients’ nakedness.”
“That you were still not done. You summoned the other staff of the hotel to see the nakedness of our clients. They were shocked at what you and your son were doing but still had to look at the shameful sight because they were afraid of you. They also joined in taking snapshots. You took every pride and dignity that our clients had away from them and according to you, that is the way thieves should be treated. You became the Accuser, the Judge and Executioner.”
“That the case of the married woman is even more pathetic. She was assigned to the Food and Beverage Department. You alleged that there was a shortage of N1, 000.00 (One Thousand Naira) in her sales for the 18th of September, 2020 and demanded that she returned the money, notwithstanding the fact that she was not the staff directly responsible. But as the Supervisor she promised to return the N1, 000.00.”
“That at gunpoint, you forcibly collected their ATM cards and used the Hotel’s Point On Sale (POS) device to transfer all the monies in our clients’ bank accounts. You withdrew the sum of N111, 000.00 (One Hundred and Eleven Thousand Naira) from the account of Victor Ephraim on Friday, the 18th of September, 2020. Same time also you unlawfully withdrew the sum of N176, 500.00 (One Hundred and Seventy Six Thousand Five Hundred Naira) from the account of Gloria Oguzie. You withdrew the sum of N5, 000.00 (Five Thousand Naira) from Okiemute Roseline Diaghwarhe which you claimed was what she “stole” from you. Precious Archibong had already under duress, refunded the sum of N2,000.00 even though the alleged shortage from her daily sale was N1,000.00 but you still subjected her to this infamous show of bestiality.”
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“That when you noticed that the news of your infamous and bestial conducts had filtered out to the public and to stave off bad publicity, you quickly called the DPO of the Ebrumede Police Station, Uvwie Local Government to send officers to your hotel to arrest some “thieves”. The Policemen came and arrested our clients, without any complaint first being made by you or any member of your staff to the Police. Our clients, at your instance were detained for 4 (four) days at the Ebrumede Police Station. Our clients were eventually arraigned in court on frivolous charges of stealing the same actual amounts that you unlawfully and at gun point withdrew from their accounts. This was not smart at all.”
“That you personally and also instructed your said son, Master Egba Gbagi to post the nude pictures of our clients on the Hotel’s staff WhatsApp group and in the general social media. By this your authorized act, the nude pictures of our clients went viral and are now on Facebook, YouTube and other social media outlets. The media is now agog with it.”
“That in spite of the gory incidents where you, your son and the armed mobile policemen attached to you were the principal conniving characters that orchestrated same, you are still threatening our clients and members of their family that you will use your influence and position to deal with them if they dare seek any legal redress. Our clients take these threats seriously and shall inform the law enforcement agencies immediately. Our clients have also seen the money-motivated and hurried Press Release made by Signatious Hotel purporting to deny what transpired and ascribing same to be the machinations of your alleged political detractors whom you claim are bent on scuttling your gubernatorial ambition in Delta State.”
Hafiz M. Inuwa, Commissioner of Police, Delta State.
“Information confirmed that the Operations Manager, the Safety Manager and some other senior and junior staff of the Hotel have resigned as a result of your acts complained of and are willing to give us more information.”
Chief Kenneth Gbagi is a criminologist. He served as Minister of State for Education under former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Gbagi, is one of the top-flight aspirants for the governorship position in Delta State in 2023.
Gbagi has been roundly criticised for his recently inhuman treatment of the four staff of his hotel.
It was gathered that the former Minister has kept away from public space since his action began to elicit vituperations from his friends, associates and the public.
Effort by The Dune Newspaper to get Gbagi to give his side of the story was unsuccessful as he refused to respond to messages sent to him concerning the incident.
However, The Dune gathered on Friday evening that the Commissioner of Police in Delta State, Mohammed Hafiz, has ordered Gbagi’s arrest and commencement of full investigation into the case.
CP Mohammed Hafiz told our correspondent on telephone that arrests have been made in connection to the case.
“It is true, arrests were made based on the report we received. The incident happened.”
“Already, I have directed for a thorough investigation into the matter because nobody is above the law. The law of this country is not a respecter of anybody. So, our investigation is going to be total. We are assuring that whoever have a hand in that case, during investigation, the truth will eventually come out.”
