US ambassador to show video evidence of sex charges against three lawmakers on Thursday

AMERICAN ambassador to Nigeria James Entwistle is to present video evidence proving that three members of the House of Representatives committed sexual offences while in a recent trip to the US when he appears before the National Assembly on Thursday.

 

Last month, three members of the House of Representatives were accused of attempted rape and sexual misconduct by the US government including soliciting sex from prostitutes during a recent visit to Cleveland in Ohio. In a strong-worded letter to the speaker of the House of Representatives Hon Yakubu Dogara, the US ambassador to Nigeria James Entwistle, accused Samuel Ikon (PDP, Akwa Ibom), Mohammed Gololo (APC, Bauchi) and Mark Gbillah (APC, Benue) of the offences.

 

In the petition, Hon Gololo was reported by a hotel house keeper to have grabbed her and sought sex, while Hon Ikon and Hon Gbillah for their part, were alleged to have sought the assistance of hotel park attendants to help them get prostitutes. However, in response, Hon Dogara challenged the US to prove the allegations.

 

He added that no evidence had been presented to him so far by the House set up a committee headed by Hon Ossai Ossai to look into the allegations. On Thursday, Mr Entwistle will appear before the committee and he has promised to provide video footage backing up the claims made against the three parliamentarians.

 

Apart from the US ambassador, the committee also extended an invitation to the minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, the three accused lawmakers as well as the other seven members that attended the leadership programme. Hon Ossai, said the committee decided not to invite the management of the hotel where the alleged sex misconduct took place because it believed the ambassador would come with all the necessary video evidence.

 

Hon Ossai added: “When I am given a job, I do it diligently. I don’t compromise anything as my reputation and the reputation of the House is at stake.”

 

While inaugurating the Ossai-led Ethics Committee, Hon Dogara  mandated it to investigate the culpability of the three members involved in the alleged sex misconduct. He described the assignment as a very serious one, since many people had already made their conclusion that the three accused lawmakers were culpable.