3 Rep Lawmakers arrested over sex scandals

The United States Ambassador to Nigeria,
James Entwistle, has petitioned the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, Yakubu
Dogara, accusing some members of the lower
chamber of improper conduct, attempted rape
and soliciting for prostitutes while on official
trip to the U.S.

The Ambassador, in a letter dated June 9,
2016, addressed to Speaker Dogara,
Mohammed Garba Gololo (APC, Bauchi),
Samuel Ikon (PDP, Akwa Ibom) and Mark
Gbillah (APC, Benue) had, on a recent visit to
the United States for the International Visitor
Leadership Programme, brought disrepute to
the parliament by soliciting for sex from
prostitutes and attempting to rape the
housekeeper.
Ten lawmakers were invited by the US
government for the International Visitor
Leadership Program held between April 7
and 13, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. They
include: Gaza Jonathan Gbefwi (PDP
Nasarawa), Danburam Abubakar Nuhu (APC,
Kano), Nkole Uko Ndukwe (PDP, Abia), Rita
Orji (PDP Lagos State), Ayo Huliyat Omidiran
(APC, Osun).
Entwistle’s letter reads: “It is with regret that
I must bring to your attention the following
situation. 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,” he said.