Following allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against three Nigerian<\/p>\n
lawmakers by the United States government, the visas of the trio of Hon
\nMohammed Garba Gololo (APC, Bauchi), Mark Gbilla (APC, Benue) and Samuel
\nIkon (PDP, Akwa Ibom, has been revoked by the US Embassy in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
One of the accused members, Hon. Mark Gbillah, confirmed the revocation.
\nHe said he \u201creceived correspondence from the US Embassy on Wednesday, June
\n15, 2016 indicating the denial of their US visas and requesting that they
\nbring their international passports with current US visas to the Embassy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Consequently, the House of Representatives has commenced a probe of the
\nallegations.<\/p>\n
The US government had accused the lawmakers of attempted rape,
\nsolicitation for prostitutes from staff of Cleveland Hotel in Ohio during
\na recent visit of the lawmakers for a leadership training programme.<\/p>\n
The ambassador had alleged that \u201cMohammed Garba Gololo allegedly grabbed a
\nhousekeeper in his hotel room and solicited for sex. While the housekeeper
\nreported this to her management, this incident could have involved local
\nlaw enforcement and resulted in legal consequences for Representative
\nGololo.<\/p>\n
\u201cMark Terseer Gbillah and Samuel Ikon allegedly requested hotel parking
\nattendants assist them to solicit for prostitutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The envoy had also hinted of the possibility that their visas would be
\nrevoked.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuch conduct could affect some participants\u2019 ability to travel to the
\nUnited States in the future. U.S. visa holders are expected to observe
\nU.S. law while in the United States. If it is determined visitors have
\nviolated U.S. law, their visas can be revoked, even if their behaviour did
\nnot result in arrests or convictions, he had said in the letter to the
\nSpeaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the development, Chairman of the House Committee on Media and
\nPublic Affairs, Abdulrazak Namdas, said the House has begun a probe into
\nthe matter noting that the members remained innocent until proven guilty.<\/p>\n
\u201cTen of our members went to Cleveland, Ohio, US to participate in an
\nInternational Visitor Leadership Programme on good governance in April.
\nHowever, we are in receipt of a letter from the Ambassador of US where he
\nalleged that some of the members were involved in misconduct.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a responsible parliament, the leadership has received this letter and
\nis doing its own investigation. When investigations are concluded, we will
\nbrief you further.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody has been convicted; none of them is before any court of law and
\nonce it\u2019s an allegation, it remains an allegation until investigations
\nare over,\u201d Namdas stated.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, two of the accused members have written the US Ambassador and
\nthreatened court action over what they described as false allegations
\nagainst them.<\/p>\n
A letter written by Hon Mark Gbillah reads:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has come to my attention that via correspondence from your good self
\nto His Excellency, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal
\nRepublic of Nigeria (a copy of which I also received) you made very
\nserious allegations against me and other members of the House of
\nRepresentatives\u2019 group that visited the United States in April 2016 as
\npart of the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP).<\/p>\n
\u201cIn your letter, you claimed that I was identified as one of the members
\nof the aforementioned group who asked for the assistance of a hotel
\nparking attendant to solicit for prostitutes at the Residence Inn Downtown
\nCleveland Ohio.<\/p>\n
I am extremely shocked, upset, irked and embarrassed by your letter and
\nwant to categorically state that these allegations are completely false,
\nunfounded, malicious and a calculated attempt to malign and cast aspersion
\non my reputation and character as a Nigerian citizen and honourable member
\nof the House of Representatives and to bring disrepute to the hallowed
\ninstitution of the National Assembly and the entire nation of Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have visited the US and several countries in the world countless times
\nover the last several years and have stayed at countless hotels all over
\nthe world and want to dare the US government to find any instance where I
\nhave previously solicited for prostitutes from a hotel employee even when
\nI was not a married man.<\/p>\n
“I am a member of two of the rewards programmes of the parent hotel brand
\nof the Residence Inn (Marriott Rewards and Ritz Carlton Rewards) and the
\nrecord of my previous stays at all the hotel brands can be obtained to
\nascertain whether or not I have ever solicited for prostitutes from any
\nhotel employee.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough it is very easy to obtain the previous travel history and track
\nrecord of accused members, it is obvious the US State Department and the
\nUS Embassy have presumed our guilt without proper investigation because of
\nthe disdain and disrespect they have towards the average Nigerian citizen,
\neven when such citizens are members of the Nigerian House of
\nRepresentatives, a treatment they will never mete out to an ordinary
\nAmerican citizen who is not even a member of the US Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA member of our group made a formal complaint to the organisers of the
\nprogramme about his being defrauded to the tune of about $100 at the
\nRenaissance Hotel Dupont Circle Washington DC, but neither the US State
\nDepartment nor the US Embassy in Nigeria has deemed it fit to take any
\naction or initiate any investigation in this regard.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Following allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against three Nigerian lawmakers by the United States government, the visas of the trio of Hon Mohammed Garba Gololo (APC, Bauchi), Mark Gbilla (APC,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n