Three members of the House of Representatives are facing probe after the
United States government petitioned the House, and withdrew their visas over
sexual misconduct during an official programme they attended in the US.
The trio, Hon. Mark Terseer Gbillah [Benue], Hon. Samuel Ikon [Akwa
Ibom] and Hon. Mohammed Garba Gololo had attended a training programme in the
United States of America last month.
Hon. Gololo, representing the Gamawa Federal Constituency of Bauchi
State, was accused of attempting to rape a housekeeper in the hotel they
lodged.
The 41-year-old and his co-accused, Hon. Gbillah, representing
Gwer-West/Gwer-East Federal Constituency of Benue State and Hon. Ikon,
representing Etinan/Nsit Ibom/Nsit Ubium, were alleged in a petition by the
United States Government, addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Mr. Yakubu Dogara, of sexual harassment, weird sexual behaviours and soliciting
for sex from female guests and the hotel staff.
The formal complaint signed by the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James
Entwistle reads in full: “Ten members of the Nigerian National Assembly
recently travelled to Cleveland, Ohio as participants in the International
Visitor Leadership Programme on good governance. We received troubling
allegations regarding the behaviour of three members of the delegation to the
U.S. Government’s flagship professional exchange programme.
“The U.S. Department of State and the Cleveland Council on World Affairs
received reports from employees of the Cleveland hotel where the
representatives stayed, alleging the representatives engaged in the following
behaviour: Mohammed Garba Gololo allegedly grabbed a housekeeper in his hotel
room and solicited her for sex.
“While the housekeeper reported this to her management, this incident
could have involved local law enforcement and resulted in legal consequences
for Representative Gololo. Mark Terseer Gbillah and Samuel Ikon allegedly
requested hotel parking attendants assist them to solicit prostitutes.
“The U.S. Mission took pains to confirm these allegations and the
identities of the individuals with the employees of the hotel in Cleveland. The
conduct described above left a very negative impression of Nigeria, casting a
shadow on Nigeria’s National Assembly, the International Visitor Leadership
Program, and to the American hosts’ impression of Nigeria as a whole. Such
conduct could affect some participants’ ability to travel to the United States
in the future.
“While the majority of Nigerian visitors to the United States do behave
appropriately, even a few Nigerians demonstrating poor judgement leads to a
poor impression of the Nigerian people generally, though it is far from
accurate.
“Such incidents jeopardise the ability of future programming and make
host institutions and organisations less likely to welcome similar visits in
the future.
“In addition, most of the members of this group reacted very negatively
to my deputy when she brought this matter to their attention, further calling
into question their judgement and commitment to the goals of the International
Visitor Leadership Programme.
“This leads us to question whether to include National Assembly members
for other similar programmes in the future. I request, in the strongest
possible terms, you share this message with members of the National Assembly so
they understand the seriousness of these issues, and the potential consequences
of their actions, not only for themselves as individuals, but also for the
future of such programmes designed to benefit Nigeria.”
Speaker Dogara has directed the investigation of the three members of
the House involved in the rape scandal.
“We received a letter from the US Ambassador, alleging misconduct by
some members of the National Assembly, who attended a training programme in the
United States of America.
“The leaderships of the House has commenced its own part of the
investigation. When it is concluded, we will brief Nigerians further on this
issue,” the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr.
Abdulrazak Namdas told newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.
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