The reps members indicted on the candal
We reported it here earlier today
that Mark Gbillah, the member representing Benue Gwer east/Gwer west in
the federal House of Representatives, was among the three reps members
accused of attempted r*pe and soliciting prostitutes while on a US
visitor programme in April 2016.
The US ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, had written to House
of Reps speaker, Yakubu Dogara with the allegations as the ambassador’s
letter was later leaked to the press and went viral.
In a swift reaction of the alleged s*x scandal, Gbillah, one of the
names reps, has written to the ambassador to protest the allegations,
and has asked the US to produce CCTV footage to support claims that he
was involved in the scandal.
He demanded for the “full video/CCTV footage covering the
period of our entire stay at the hotel; this should clearly show the
movements and activities of every member of the group throughout the
hotel”.
Below is the full text of his letter;
It has come to my attention that via correspondence from your good
self to His Excellency, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria (a copy of which I also received), you made
very serious allegations against me and other members of the House of
Representatives group that visited the United States in April 2016 as
part of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP).
In your letter you claimed that I was identified as one of the
members of the aforementioned group who asked for the assistance of a
hotel parking attendant to solicit for prostitutes at the Residence Inn
Downtown Cleveland Ohio.
I am extremely shocked, upset, irked and embarrassed by your letter
and want to categorically state that these allegations are completely
false, unfounded, malicious and a calculated attempt to malign and cast
aspersion on my reputation and character as a Nigerian citizen and
Honourable Member of the House of Representatives and to bring disrepute
to the hallowed institution of the National Assembly and the entire
nation of Nigeria.
Considering the enormity of these allegations it is instructive to note the following:
1) The US State Department and the US Embassy in Nigeria appear
to have concluded on the accuracy of these allegations based on the
testimony of the employees of the hotel without recourse to a response
from the accused individuals or a proper forensic investigation.
Paragraph 5 of your letter clearly states that ‘The US Mission took the
pains to confirm these allegations and the identities of the individuals
with the employees of the hotel in Cleveland’. The Embassy claims the
accused individuals were identified by the hotel employees from a
photograph of the group. Is this the manner in which such allegations
against any US citizen (not to mention Members of the US Congress) are
investigated and prosecuted in the United States or does the US State
Department and Embassy have so much disdain towards Nigeria and her
citizens that they did not bother to carry out a proper investigation?
For a country that prides itself as the bastion of Democracy, justice,
the rule of law, fair hearing and human rights it is quite alarming that
allegations of this magnitude can be made and confirmed without
allowing the accused individuals to respond.
2) Without conclusive evidence of any sort or contact with any of
the accused individuals the US State Department and US Embassy in
Nigeria have less than six days after your letter to the Speaker gone
ahead to revoke the US visas of accused individuals based on hearsay
from the employees of the hotel in Cleveland. Affected individuals
received correspondence from the US Embassy on Wednesday 15th June 2016
indicating the denial of their US visas and requesting that they bring
their international passports with current US visas to the Embassy.
3) The accused individuals were not accosted with these
allegations while in the US so they could immediately defend themselves,
the hotel employees conveniently refrained from making these
allegations while the members of the group were in the United States and
curiously decided to do so after our departure. What is the reason
behind their not reporting these incidents immediately they occurred and
why are we only being informed about these allegations two months after
our return from the US?
4) None of the members of the group was driving a vehicle while
at the hotel and would therefore have had no cause to interact with the
car park attendants as the Residence Inn car park is not in front of the
hotel but somewhere behind and some distance away from the hotel. You
will have to go out of your way to go to the car park so video footage
should clearly indicate whether or not any member of the group
interacted with a hotel car park attendant.
5) Other groups comprising African Americans and other ‘people of
colour’ were also occupying the Residence Inn while this group of House
of Representatives members was visiting Cleveland because of the
scheduled basketball game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the
Atlanta Hawks at the Quicken Loans Arena which is just across the road
from the hotel. What is the certainty of the ability of the probably
caucasian hotel car park attendants to accurately identify the specific
members of any of the groups at the hotel as being responsible for the
purported infractions?
6) The US border agency has it on record that I came into the US
with my wife and baby on this trip and although the organisers did not
allow them to stay with me in the hotel I was always communicating with
my wife on facetime whenever I returned to the hotel. I stayed indoors
on the days we had a break from our usually hectic schedule and only had
cause to go to the grocery store to pick up items for my room. I wonder
when it was I found the time to solicit for prostitutes from a hotel
parking attendant and how I intended to bring a prostitute to my room
when I had a regular facetime schedule with my wife which we never
concluded until I was ready to turn in. This can very easily be verified
from my log in activity on the hotels Wi-Fi service.
7) I have visited the US and several countries in the world
countless times over the last several years and have stayed at countless
hotels all over the world and want to dare the US government to find
any instance where I have previously solicited for prostitutes from a
hotel employee even when I was not a married man. I am a Hilton HHonors
Diamond Member with over 1,500,000 reward points, an Intercontinental
Ambassador Platinum Elite Member, a Ritz Carlton Rewards Silver member, a
Marriott Rewards Member, a Starwood Preferred Guest Member and a
Fairmont Presidents Club Member.
I am a member of two of the rewards programs of the parent hotel
brand of the Residence Inn (Marriott Rewards and Ritz Carlton Rewards)
and the record of my previous lodgings at all the hotel brands can be
obtained to ascertain whether or not I have ever solicited for
prostitutes from any hotel employee. Although it is very easy to obtain
the previous travel history and track record of accused members, it is
obvious the US State Department and the US Embassy have presumed our
guilt without proper investigation because of the disdain and disrespect
they have towards the average Nigerian citizen even when such citizens
are Members of the Nigerian House of Representatives, a treatment they
will never mete out to an ordinary American citizen who is not even a
member of the US Congress.
8) It is noteworthy that a member of our group made a formal
complaint to the organisers of the programme about his being defrauded
to the tune of about $100 at the Renaissance Hotel Dupont Circle
Washington DC but neither the US State Department nor the US Embassy in
Nigeria has deemed it fit to take any action or initiate any
investigation in this regard. Members of the group also expressed their
dissatisfaction, displeasure and disappointment with the organisers of
the programme over their inability to organise a single meeting with any
member of the US congress and constraining members to meet with only
one State Representative and several County Representatives and
officials contrary to the initial objectives of the programme. Perhaps
there are other underlying reasons behind the lacklustre attitude of the
US State Department and the US Embassy towards ensuring proper
investigation of these allegations.
Your Excellency, this unfortunate and malicious situation has
further been exacerbated by the fact that your Embassy by omission or
commission has allowed your correspondence to the Speaker to fall into
the hands of the print media in Lagos without fair hearing or upholding
the rights of the concerned individuals; an employee of one of the
national dailies intimated me about this and their desire to publish the
story.
This story was indeed published in the New Telegraph of Thursday,
16th June, 2016 alleging that related Members of the House of
Representatives were involved in a sex scandal.
You can imagine the incalculable damage to my reputation and image
with the publication of these spurious allegations especially when I
unequivocally know that I am completely innocent.
It is also unfortunate that at a meeting with your Deputy Chief of
Mission in Abuja the attempt by members of the group to express their
exception to and displeasure with these allegations, the lack of proper
investigation and the tainting of the image of the entire group was
considered to be a very negative reaction by your Chief of Mission and
your good self.
I suppose the US Embassy expected renowned personalities in Nigeria
like Members of the House of Representatives to accept complicity in
such malicious and spurious allegations without proper investigation or
evidence or any opportunity to defend themselves.
Considering the psychological trauma, irredeemable defamation of my
character and reputation before my spouse, children, family,
colleagues, leadership, constituents and the general Nigerian and global
public and the incalculable damage to my political career, I intend to
take the following actions:
1) Institute legal action in the United States against the
Marriot Hotel Brand, the Cleveland Council of World Affairs and the US
State Department requesting for damages, comprehensive investigation of
these allegations to exonerate myself and a formal globally publicised
apology.
2) Institute legal action in Nigeria against the US Embassy in
Nigeria also requesting for damages, comprehensive investigation of
these allegations and a formal globally publicised apology.
3) Demand that the US Embassy and the US State Department
(regardless of your revocation of my US visa) allow me to travel to
Cleveland even at my own expense to confront my accuser and confirm my
innocence. I otherwise have no desire to travel to a country that
appears to pay only lip service to the ideals they claim to uphold.
4) Demand for the full video/cctv footage covering the period of
our entire stay at the hotel; this should clearly show the movements and
activities of every member of the group throughout the hotel.
It is unfortunate that I have to write to your good self under
these circumstances but I believe you will use your good office to
redress this very grave injustice and redeem the image of your country.
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