Obi: I wasn’t arrested at London airport

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the just-concluded election, Peter Obi, says he was not arrested at Heathrow Airport in London, the United Kingdom.

Obi’s media office had, in a statement issued on Wednesday, April 12, said the LP presidential flag-bearer was harassed by immigration officials and placed in detention at the Heathrow Airport in London.

Obi, who had travelled to London for Easter celebration, was said to have been accosted by an immigration official who handed him a detention note and told him to step aside.

His media office noted that the former governor of Anambra State would have been detained but for the screaming of Nigerians at Heathrow Airport.

“He was questioned for a long time and it was very strange for a man who lived for over a decade in that country,” the statement added.

However, Obi, while speaking in an interview with Arise TV on Monday night, said he was only stopped for a routine immigration check.

“I was stopped for a routine immigration check and all these lasted for a maximum of 20 minutes. I was treated with all due respect. I was never arrested nor detained,” the LP candidate stressed.

The former governor further underscored his clean crime record saying: “I lived in the UK in the 90s from 1993 to 2005. From that time till now is 30 years and I have never been questioned, arrested, or detained in any country in the world.

“I have never been arrested or questioned in any manner. I have never committed any offense. So, what happened was a routine immigration check and that happened not more than 20 minutes and I was given all due respect by the authorities,” Obi added.

The Star