Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has stated that Nigerian security agencies are planning to arrest her upon her return to the country.
In a telephone interview on Sunday, March 16, the senator linked the plot to her participation in the Inter-parliamentary Union IPU meeting in New York on March 11, where she spoke about her suspension from the Senate and accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan claimed that her outspoken remarks had made her a target and expressed fears of possible intimidation upon her arrival in Nigeria.
“I’m aware there are plans underway to have me arrested as soon as I arrive in Abuja,” she said.
The senator, who remains in the United Nations (UN) following the IPU meeting, maintained that the attempt to silence her would not deter her from speaking out.
Akpoti-Uduaghan stated that security agencies are plotting her arrest upon her return to Nigeria.
However, she did not specify which agency was behind the purported plan.
Reports indicate that Nigeria’s internal and external intelligence agencies have launched an investigation into how Akpoti-Uduaghan gained access to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) meeting at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York on Tuesday, March 11 without an official nomination.
The senior administration and security officials stated that the State Security Service (SSS) and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) are probing her accreditation, the facilitators of her trip, and whether her participation was orchestrated to embarrass Nigeria.
At the IPU meeting, Akpoti-Uduaghan spoke about her recent suspension from the Senate, stating that it was politically motivated to silence her for exposing misconduct in the legislative chamber.
She called for international intervention, prompting IPU President Tulia Ackson to announce an investigation while allowing the Nigerian Senate to present its position.
However, Kafilat Ogbara, chairperson of the House Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development and a Nigerian delegate to the IPU, refuted Akpoti-Uduaghan’s claims.
Speaking at the UN the following day, she read a letter from Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, which stated that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension was based on breaches of Senate Standing Rules rather than her accusations against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Akpoti-Uduaghan further added that shortly after her speech, the Senate President dispatched a team led by the Chargé d’Affaires of Nigeria’s Embassy in New York to forcibly remove her from the UN premises.
“The Senate President Akpabio sent three staff headed by the Chargè D’Affairs of the Nigerian embassy in New York to evacuate me from the United Nations premises right after my speech. I was rescued by parliamentarians from other countries and the security,” Akpoti-Uduaghan said.
