The former Minister of State for Education, Kenneth Gbagi, who is currently on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party with the aim of leading the Delta State by 2023, arrested four of his employees working in his hotel and put them on trial for allegedly stealing their N5,000, the Tropics Nigeria reporters learned.
Our correspondent reported that the four employees, one man, and three women, were taken to the Ebrumede police station after the dehumanization to be taken into custody.
The former Minister of State for Education, Kenneth Gbagi
In a confidential conversation with our correspondent, a hotel employee revealed that his colleagues had been arrested by the former minister for allegedly stealing the money.
He said: “My boss, the former Minister of State for Education and owner of the Signatious Hotel, Chief Kenneth Gbagi, arrested four of my colleagues who work for him for stealing N5,000 from the hotel, when in fact the N5,000 was given by a guest for their good conduct.
The source gave the names of the arrested colleagues such as Gloria Oguzie, Victor Ephraim, Rosslyn Okiemute, and Achibong Precious and said: “Prior to their arrest by the police at the hotel last Friday, the four employees were stripped naked while being photographed in the presence of the police.
“We were told that the dehumanizing treatment was ordered by our boss.”
We also learned that the hotel management had forcibly withdrawn money from the four employees’ bank accounts using their credit cards before the police took them away in a waiting van.
The four employees were charged after four days in police custody in a magistrate’s court in Effurun.
In a five-count indictment, police charged the suspects with conspiracy to steal N156,000, N110,000, N5,000 to N2,000 of Signatious Hotel money, and a crime under sections 516 and 390(9) of the Penal Code, Delta State Act Cap. 21C Vol. 1.
It was learned that the four employees have released on Monday on bail thanks to the intervention of some anti-corruption and human rights activists who decided to take up the case.
Omemiroro Maxwell Ogedegbe, Warri’s human rights lawyer, who corroborated the story, said the four employees were released on bail by a district court in Effurun, Delta State.