The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Signatious Hotel Effurun, Delta State who has been embroiled in allegation of molesting his workers over missing five thousand naira has vehemently denied the allegation.
In a press conference, Barr Ggbagi said the allegation was the handiwork of those who feel threatened by his ambition to contest Delta State governorship election in 2023.
His full statement:
“ADDRESS DELIVERED BY OLOROGUN KENNETH GBAGI AT A PRESS BRIEFING ON ALLEGED MOLESTATION OF SIGNATIOUS HOTEL STAFF
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the fourth estate of the realm, you’re welcome to this press briefing which was called at the instance of outrightly false allegations made against my person over the last one week.
Ordinarily, I would have ignored the mischief makers behind said allegations, but seeing how damaging that could be on my integrity and reputation which were built through a dint of hard work over the years, I decided to correct certain impressions held by the public owing to false allegations peddled by those who for one reason or the other feel threatened by my ambition to contest the governorship election in Delta State come 2023.
On the allegation of molestation of staff employed with Signatious Hotel, one of the business interests I own, let me categorically state that at no time did I or any person related to me strip naked the persons mentioned in the malicious allegation. As a father of six daughters who has tremendous respect for women and their rights and equality, I consider those behind such accusation and blackmail the most evil minds that must be identified and brought to face the full wrath of the law.
Permit me to clarify that I do not get involved in the day-to-day running of my business empire, since this is a responsibility left for my management team to handle.
As such, to the best of my knowledge and based on available information at my disposal as provided by the management of the hotel, the persons mentioned in the molestation allegation are not staff employed with any of my businesses nationwide. Any attempt to state otherwise must be backed by proof of employment, which I dare those concerned to provide.
Those persons were freelance job-seekers who were never stripped naked by anybody. I request experts to forensically search for any bodily contact on the persons paraded in the photographs, including myself who was alleged to have touched them.
The photographs; when viewed properly, showed persons who were not in the least remorseful, but whose facial expression revealed that they had willfully stripped themselves naked for political photographs and gimmickry in a bid to smear my name and character as well as extort money from me. A copy requesting for N1 billion is hereby attached and marked annexure 1, written and issued by one Mr. Kunle Edu, who; two years ago by his own sponsors for the same political fame, parked his car on my property and sued me to the Effurun High Court.
At that time, Kunle Edu made himself known to me and asked that I give him N50 million for settlement. I ignored him, just as I’ve done in this instance, sparking a chain reaction of calls with over forty persons to negotiate a reduction of this ransom of N1 billion to N100million.
As I speak, my legal team is in the middle of compiling facts which would vindicate me. In their possession, are recordings which show that the lawyers used by Mrakpor, who pose as Activists are presently fighting themselves over monies offered them to smear my name. They are presently divided as the content of the recordings have revealed that the whole story about stripping the persons in the photographs was hatched to taint my image.
Gentlemen of the press, I challenge you, once again to produce any photograph of anybody including myself stripping any person or having any form of bodily contact with them.
The fabricated allegation was a plot by the Delta State Attorney General; Peter Mrakpor, and his agents who are threatened by my speed of light mannerism in the contest of gubernitorial elections in Delta State. According to trusted inside source, he has vowed to do any and everything to contest, which is why there is an urgent and pressing need to blackmail and destroy my person. I say categorically that Mrakpor in all his entireties will fail. When I founded the PDP in Delta State he was still in school.
The world will remember about a year ago, the same Mrakpor in the company of his agents, the likes of Rueben Izeze, Andrew Desi caused a riot, which broke out into fights resulting in the maiming of individuals and devastatingly in the murder of one of our youths in Oginibu. The killer of the young man was finally arrested, charged to court and repremanded at Ogwashi-Uku prison, but to my bewilderment, Mrakpor got the man to be released on the basis of a “no case submission”.
It is on record that Mrakpor has released robbers, criminals and assassins, in volumes; no less than 154 since he became Attorney General of this State. Mrakpor has vowed that he must bring my name down, but I am; hereby asking the world to intervene, because there’ll be more to come of this form of cheap blackmail and desperate calculations if he is not stopped. I have reported all the above incidents to the Governor. I also wish to call on the Inspector General, Mohammed Adamu, as a matter of urgency to investigate the claims made herein.
Yesterday, the 25th of September 2020, Mrakpor fruitlessly attempted to arrest my person in handcuffs in a bid to get a 5- minutes window of Trending News in the hope of slandering my reputation. To tell you how despicable Mrakpor’s merchants of malicious blackmailers are, they went further to spin more lies that the Inspector General of Police deployed 50 men to ensure my arrest.
It just shows how desperate and shameless they are to do anything and everything to malign my character so as to declare me unfit to run for the governorship elections in 2023. All they are hell bent on doing is stirring the people’s hate and distrust for me through their merchants on facebook and Twitter. Unfortunately, the more they spin lies, the more the people would come to know them for who they really are. They are nothing but envious vagabonds with no single honour or integrity to all of their names.
The attention of the media and the world at large is therefore drawn to note all the above and what Mrakpor has planned to do with his assassins, as he once threatened in one of our altercations.
Let it be on record, also; that should anything happen to my person or any member of my family, he should be held responsible by the Police.
The intention of Mrakpor, is to try to do any and everything to disrepute me before a God fearing man, Senator Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa, all in an attempt to shore up his desire to be the Governor of Delta State haven seen me as the greatest threat to his ambition.
Let me make it clear to you, gentlemen of the press, that we are more than capable to repel Mrakpor’s campaign of calumny and all his threats put together. The election of 2023 is a must do for Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi.
My entire group of businesses nationwide, including securities etc are put on notice to be vigilant as the desperation of this young man appears to have no limit.
Long live Ughelli South!
Long live Delta State!
Long live Nigeria!”
Barr Gbagi allegedly stripped four of his workers over missing five thousand naira, ordered his teenage son to video the nude workers, forced the staff to submit their ATM cards and made withdrawals from the accounts.