Gbagi Claims Political Mischief As Stripped Female Staff Ask For N1b

Chief Kenneth Gbagi has vowed to respond with fire and fury to what he on Thursday described as an organized blackmail by his political rivals to blackmail him out of his front position in the 2023 governorship contest in Delta State.

Responding to the petition by four of his hotel staff that he ordered their humiliation after he allegedly ordered them to be stripped and filmed naked for allegedly receiving tips from a hotel guest.

The four staff of Signatious Hotel, Warri, Delta State, owned by Gbagi in a petition to the police alleged that Gbagi ordered them to refund the N105,000 tip they got from a hotel guest on the claim that they were not entitled to receive tips.

The four staff Mr Victor Ephraim, Gloria Oguzie, Mrs. Precious Achibong, Roselyn Okiemute Diaghwarhe wrote through their lawyers, led by Mr Kunle Edun of Tri-Lex Partners.

Their letter dated September 23, 2020 to Gbagi, was titled ‘Trial by ordeal, torture, stripping naked and bestial conduct of Signatious Hotel and yourself in an organised show of shame and animalism: Notice of intention to seek full legal redress’.

Edun in the letter said that Gbagi was miffed that a guest who lodged at the hotel for four days gave them a handsome tip on his departure on August 20, 2020.

The letter read in part, “That after the guest’s stay, he gave our clients the sum of N105, 000 as tips for the good time that he had at the hotel.

“This again, is not unusual in the hospitality business. That the hotel did not lose any money neither was any alleged to have been stolen.

“You told our clients menacingly that they are not entitled to tips, as all tips belong to you. As a matter of fact, you categorically stated that they were not supposed to have monies in their accounts as long as they were working for you.”

According to the letter on September 17, 2020, Gbagi allegedly forced the staff including a married woman to the hotel’s warehouse where he forced them in the presence of policemen to strip their clothes.

The letter stated that with “the threatening presence of the armed policemen who willingly did your bidding, you directed your son of 15 years old (a minor) Master Egba Gbagi, to film and take photos of our clients’ nakedness” and then “summoned the other staff of the hotel to see the nakedness of our clients”.

The lawyers gave the ex-minister five days to among others, pay their clients N1bn “as modest damages and compensation for the unmitigated actions of yours.”

Alleging that the claim by the four was founded on political blackmail, Gbagi in a statement on Thursday said:

“From all indications, there is a poorly scripted and badly thought-out plan designed to tarnish the good name and hard earned reputation of Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi in the eyes of the general public by professional blackmailers.

“And, we wish to remind these dark-minded beings that Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi has through dint of hard work and sheer tenacity built this name over these years.

“Every choice a man makes has consequences. Those who have chosen to do the dirty jobs of cowardly and visionless politicians, whose primary goal is to scuttle a long held vision of selfless service to the good people of Delta State by willfully and maliciously casting aspersion on Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi’s growing popularity and acceptance within the Delta State political space in particular and the country in general, in the vain hope that they can abridge his political ambition by so doing, should be ready to face the full and unmitigated consequences of their ill advised choices. They will be made to pay an unbearable and unforgettably high prize for their indiscretion.

“It is trite Law that the burden of proof rests squarely on whosoever asserts.  Those who have mastered the art of blackmailing innocent people, albeit masking their devious enterprises by parading themselves as human rights activists and defenders of the poor, will be told in no uncertain terms that every act of evil deserves the full wrath of the Law without any iota of mercy.

“It is common knowledge today in Delta State, that Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi remains the front runner among the aspirants who have overtly or otherwise made known their desire to lead Delta State come May 29, 2023.

“Expectedly, those who cannot match Olorogun Gbagi wit for wit, grit for grit, determination for determination, courage for courage and vision for vision have latched onto non-existent stories woven in manners that smack of tales by moonlight and gratuitously standing truth on its head just to tar his name with all manners of dirty brushes.

“We won’t advise you to stop. Those whom the gods want to destroy, they first run mad. Continue!

“But be reminded, it will be too late to cry or repent or ask for mercy when the head is off.

“Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi has been known to be a development minded lover of humanity, a well known philanthropist, a more than average employer of labour and a respecter of the rights, privileges and dignity of all and sundry and above all, a lover of peace.

“However, any attempt to capitalize on these humane qualities to abuse his person now or any other time and jeopardize his future, will be met with what President Donald Trump of the United States called “Fire and Fury”.

Send Us A Press Statement Advertise With Us Contact Us

 And For More Nigerian News Visit GWG.NG