Recall that a Nigerian politician and the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, was delayed at Heathrow Airport, United Kingdom by immigration officers over a case of alleged identity duplication.
British authority are said to be investigating the perpetrators and masterminds behind the criminal plot which took place last April.
The case represents one of the investigations by British authority to date involving the use of stolen identifying information.
Source said perpetrators are in a massive identity theft involving an extensive network of more than 100 people, many of whom were hired by politicians to go after their rivals.
Obi’s case remains under investigation.
Also, Peter Obi who said the London identity duplication crisis started in Nigeria also confirmed that the matter still being investigated by UK authorities
Obi made the disclosure on Sunday during a Twitter space organised by the Parallel Media which was monitored by our correspondent.
Obi said he had been to the UK about four times in 2023, adding that he resided there before he became the governor of Anambra State.
He said, “I have been to the UK this year at least four times when I went to the Chatham House when I was invited by the UK government. So, it was a surprise to me. I had lived there for years and still own property there because that was where I lived before I became governor and for me to appear at the airport and they will ask me to sit down, I was very surprised, but all these happened within a few minutes.”
Noting that the incident had taught him to be careful, following the possible threat to his personality, Obi disclosed that the attempt to clone his identity began in Nigeria.
He said, “It is shocking when someone tells you that your identity was duplicated; my first reaction was to say it means nothing, but I was referred to an expert on identity duplication who further shocked me.
“He (the expert) said to me, ‘Peter you could be implicated for a rape, you book a hotel, they have their own gang that comes in, set you up at night and someone says you did this, and they call police. In the UK and everywhere in the Western world, this is a serious case, and you can’t get bail. You could be implicated in murder with your duplicate, same thing if they are checking any luggage.’
“Thank God nothing happened; I have been managing it, and I have been to the UK since then while they too are investigating. When I arrived after that, I was asked and I explained to them, they said they are looking into it, that’s all I can say for now. I’m also extremely careful, and I’m managing it, and hoping nothing goes wrong, but it is something that started from Nigeria,” Obi narrated.
According to one of his former aides, Prof Chinyere Okunna, Obi narrated the ordeal to her in private and expressed pain about his ordeal, which was meant to hound and chase him out of Nigeria.
Okunna said, “Today, 11/04/2023, I was shocked beyond words to hear from His Excellency Mr Peter what he went through when his British Airways plane landed at Heathrow Airport London in the early morning of Friday 07/04/2023.
“He was talking to me at the Official Opening of the Specialist Hospital of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) Sisters, Nkpor. He had arrived at the event after flying in from London, his presence heralded by the usual ‘ear-splitting’ ovation that accompanies him everywhere nowadays. As the “Most Outstanding Pillar of the Foundation/Hospital”, the Reverend Sisters were full of expectations that he would attend; so were we (Members of the Governing Board of the IHM Sisters Healthcare System), although there was also anxiety about whether he would be able to make it, being outside Nigeria.
“I suppose he told me all this confidentially. My very sincere apologies, Your Excellency, for ‘breaking’ this confidentiality, but History beckons and I CANNOT KEEP QUIET.
“He arrived at Heathrow Airport and joined the usual queue to pass through Immigration, and that was when his ordeal began.
“He was stopped and questioned for a long time and subsequently handed a detention note and told to wait for further interrogation and investigation. This was terribly unusual for a man who had lived honourably in the UK for a long time.
“In the face of this harassment, some well-meaning Nigerians, knowing who he is, raised their voices in protest, demanding to know why he was being treated that way.”
Okunna revealed that in the face of seeming protest by some Nigerians, the immigration officials revealed that someone was impersonating Obi in the country.
“The shocking revelation by the Immigration Officer was that his (Obi’s) identity ‘was duplicated’. This revelation has definitely set off alarm bells.“For people who are knowledgeable about such matters, this is a very dangerous development because the implication is that someone is impersonating Peter Obi.
“And that someone could implicate Obi in all manner of dubious and even criminal activities, and rope him into any number of offences; he could get Obi framed for one criminal act or another. The frightening scenario of what can happen is unimaginable.”
By Chidi-Peters Okorie
Discussion about this post