Kenneth Gbagi, an embattled former minister of state for education, has denied claims that Mohammed Adamu, the inspector-general of police, deployed 50 men to arrest him.
The internet was earlier awash with reports that Gbagi, who is nursing a governorship ambition in 2023, ordered the arrest and stripping of four of his hotel staff for allegedly stealing the sum of N5,000.
Speaking with TheCable Lifestyle, Hafiz Inuwa, the state’s commissioner of police, confirmed that two persons alleged to have been involved in the incident were arrested and brought into custody on Friday.
Inuwa also said that he is yet to be briefed about the investigation.
In his reaction on Saturday, Gbagi, who welcomed a comprehensive investigation into the matter, dismissed claims that a deluge of policemen were sent to effect his arrest.
The ex-minister also claimed that the purveyors of the accusations are being sponsored by those threatened by his political bid “in an attempt to smear my soaring popularity and high flying reputation in Delta state.”
The politician went ahead to demand a probe of key political actors belonging to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
“It just tells how desperate and shameless they are to do anything and everything to malign my character so as to declare me unfit to run for the governorship election,” he said.
“They went further to spin more lies that the Inspector General of Police deployed 50 men to ensure my arrest.
“All they are hell-bent on doing is stirring the people’s hate and distrust for me through their merchants on Facebook and Twitter.
“Unfortunately, the more they spin lies, the more the people would come to know them for who they are.
“They are nothing but envious detractors with no single honour or integrity to their names.
“You will recall how several years ago, similar persons tried to blackmail me claiming I had lions in my house, preventing innocent children from attending school and ordinary Deltans from going to work. What became of those lies?”
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