1 week after, UK immigration still silent on alleged detention of Peter Obi

The Obi-Datti media office on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, disclosed that on Friday, April 7, 2023, the LP presidential candidate was detained and questioned for a duplication offence that suggested that someone must have been impersonating Obi in London.

The LP media office said immigration officials at the airport handed Obi a detention note and told him to step aside when he joined the queue for the necessary airport protocols. 

The party said Obi “was questioned for a long time and it was very strange for a man who lived for over a decade in that country”.

While the matter remains a talking point on social media in Nigeria, the UK immigration is yet to comment or issue any statement on the issue. 

Meanwhile, on Thursday, April 13, 2023, a national newspaper reported that the British Government had apologised to Obi for unlawful detention.

But Diran Onifade, Head of Obi-Datti Media has in a statement dismissed the claim, saying neither Obi nor the Labour Party has received any apology from the British Government.

The statement reads in part, “We have been receiving enquiries with regards to a so-called apology, purportedly issued by the British Government or any of its agencies, to our Principal Mr Peter Obi, in respect of a routine Immigration engagement with him, as he arrived London, for a brief visit, last Friday, the 7th of April.

“We would like to state emphatically that we are not aware of any such apology, and have not issued any statement whatsoever, in that regard.”

Diran said that the party would continue to examine any dubious or political motive, on the part of the perpetrators of the identity theft, adding that the party has confidence in the British Government to see the matter to the end.