IKON, OTHERS HARASS HOTEL HOUSEKEEPER IN USA

The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle, has petitioned the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, accusing some members of the lower chamber of improper conduct, attempted rape and soliciting for prostitutes while on official trip to the States.
But, the affected lawmakers have denied all the allegations and threatened to sue the Ambassador and the US Government for “character defamation and a calculated attempt to ridicule the National Assembly.”
The Ambassador, in a letter dated June 9, 2016, addressed to Speaker Dogara, exclusively obtained by our reporter, alleged that the immediate past Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly and current member representing Etinan in the House of Representatives, Hon. Samuel Ikon, alongside Hon. Mohammed Garba Gololo (APC, Bauchi), and Hon. Mark Gbillah (APC, Benue) had, on a recent visit to the United States for the International Visitor Leadership Program, brought disrepute to the parliament by soliciting for sex from prostitutes and grabbing hotel housekeeper in a bid to rape.
Ten lawmakers were invited by the US Government for the International Visitor Leadership Program held between April 7 and 13, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio.
They include: Gaza Jonathan Gbefwi (PDP-Nasarawa State), Danburam Abubakar Nuhu (APC-Kano State), Nkole Uko Ndukwe (PDP-Abia State), Rita Orji (PDP-Lagos State), Ayo Huliyat Omidiran (APC-Osun).
Entwistle’s letter reads: “It is with regret that I must bring to your attention the following situation. Ten members of the Nigerian National Assembly recently travelled to Cleveland, Ohio as participants in the International Visitor Leadership Programme on good governance.
We received troubling allegations regarding the behaviour of three members of the delegation to the U.S. Government’s flagship professional exchange programme.
“The U.S. Department of State and the Cleveland Council on World Affairs received reports from employees of the Cleveland hotel where the representatives stayed, alleging the representatives engaged in the following behaviour: Mohammed Garba Gololo allegedly grabbed a housekeeper in his hotel room and solicited her for sex. While the housekeeper reported this to her management, this incident could have involved local law enforcement and resulted in legal consequences for Representative Gololo. Mark Terseer Gbillah and Samuel Ikon allegedly requested hotel parking attendants assist them to solicit prostitutes.”
Entwistle said the US government made efforts to authenticate these allegations. His words: “The U.S. Mission took pains to confirm these allegations and the identities of the individuals with the employees of the hotel in Cleveland. The conduct described above left a very negative impression of Nigeria, casting a shadow on Nigeria’s National Assembly, the International Visitor Leadership Program, and to the American hosts’ impression of Nigeria as a whole. Such conduct could affect some participants’ ability to travel to the United States in the future.”
The ambassador acknowledged that “While the majority of Nigerian visitors to the United States do behave appropriately, even a few Nigerians demonstrating poor judgment leads to a poor impression of the Nigerian people generally, though it is far from accurate. Such incidents jeopardize the ability of future programming and make host institutions and organizations less likely to welcome similar visits in the future.”
Entwistle stated that the affected lawmakers did not show remorse when the issue was brought to them.
“In addition, most of the members of this group reacted very negatively to my deputy when she brought this matter to their attention, further calling into question their judgment and commitment to the goals of the International Visitor Leadership Programme. This leads us to question whether to include National Assembly members for other similar programmes in the future. “I request, in the strongest possible terms, from you.” (Culled from New Telegraph)