The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi said he was never arrested or detained at Heathrow Airport in London, the United Kingdom.
Peter Obi made this clarification following a rumour that circulated earlier in the month of April that he was detained or arrested by UK immigration officers at London airport over identity duplication.
Speaking in an interview with Arise TV on Monday, the LP presidential candidate explained that he was only stopped for a routine immigration check which lasted for only 20 minutes.
The former Anambra governor said he was “treated with all due respect” by the immigration officers who revealed to him that the issue was all about someone impersonating him.
He said, “I was never arrested, I was never detained and I did not commit any offence. I was stopped for a routine immigration check, because there appeared to be a duplication of my identity. All these lasted for a maximum of 20 minutes. I was treated with all due respect.
“I lived in the UK from 1993 to 2005. Not only that I lived there, from that period to now is a period of 30 years, I’ve never been questioned, arrested, detained in any country in the world. I’ve never for any reason found myself in any manner being questioned for any offence.
“I never committed any offence and it lasted for less than 20 minutes and I was given all the due respect by the border personnel who told me, your identity is duplicated, be careful and actually had to walk me through to the VIP process and every other thing. I have a written document by the British government clarifying that I was never detained. It was just a few minute routine check.
“It was actually Nigerians who were queuing up because I arrived on British Airways. They were even worried that they asked me a question for just a few minutes. But today it is being dramatised and everything. People are saying I was detained that I committed an offence or that I even committed several offences, his company was closed, he wasn’t paying tax.
“For the years I lived in Britain, I’ve never been questioned. My taxes were duly paid. In fact most times, they had refunded me money for overpayment. I had borrowed money from their system and I’d done everything globally and not one day had I defaulted in anything. If you find one default, it is not Peter.”
Obi noted that despite once having a permanent residency in the UK, he chose to return to Nigeria, adding that “I was born a Nigerian. I will want to live and die a Nigerian”.
KanyiDaily recalls that the Labour Party had also denied receiving an apology from the British government over the arrest and detention of Peter Obi.
