Police Commence Probe Of Alleged Dehumanisation Of Hotel Staff By Ex-Minister Kenneth Gbagi

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, says the Delta State Police Command has commenced discrete investigations into the alleged dehumanisation of four employees of the Signatious Hotel, Warri, Delta State, by the management.

The Chairman of the hotel and former Minister of State for Education, Mr Kenneth Gbagi, was alleged to have ordered that the workers – three women and a man – be stripped naked.

They were allegedly filmed naked and the snapshots sent online.

According to a statement issued by Police spokesman, Frank Mba, on Friday, the IGP called on members of the public, particularly the alleged victims and all interest groups to remain calm as the Police intensify efforts towards unravelling the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Adamu noted that appreciable progress had been made on the investigations.

He assured that justice would prevail no matter whose ox is gored.

A staff of the hotel had revealed that his colleagues were arrested by the former minister over the alleged theft of the said amount.

He said, “My boss, former Minister of State for Education and owner of Signatious Hotel, Chief Kenneth Gbagi, arrested four of my colleagues working for him over the stealing of N5,000 from the hotel when actually the N5,000 was given as a gift to them by a guest because of their good behaviour.”

While giving the names of the arrested colleagues as Gloria Oguzie, Victor Ephraim, Rosslyn Okiemute and Achibong Precious, the source said, “Before they were arrested by the police on Friday last week at the hotel, the four staff were stripped naked while they were photographed in the presence of the police.

“We learnt that the dehumanising treatment was instructed by our boss.”

It was further gathered that the hotel management forcefully made some withdrawals from the bank accounts of the four staff through their ATM cards before the police took them away in a waiting van.

The four staff were charged before a magistrate court sitting in Effurun after four days of detention.

In a five-count charge, the police accused the suspects of conniving among themselves to steal monies ranging from N156,000, N110,000, N5,000 and N2,000 owned by Signatious Hotel and committed an offence punishable under section 516 and 390 (9), of the criminal code Law Cap21C Vol.1 Law of Delta State.

The four staff, it was learnt, were granted bail last week Monday through the intervention of some anti-corruption and human rights activists, who decided to take up the matter.

Warri-based human rights lawyer, Omemiroro Maxwell Ogedegbe, who confirmed the story, said that the four staff were granted bail by a magistrate court sitting in Effurun, Delta State.