Court Fines Governorship Candidate, Gbagi For Stripping Workers Naked, Torturing Them

A Delta State High Court in Warri has fined Kenneth Gbagi, a former Minister of State for Education and the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), for staff abuse.

The politician was accused of ordering four of his staff to be stripped naked and photographed over a theft case at his Signatious Hotel in Effurun.

On September 30, 2020, Gbagi filed an application demanding that the police and others be restrained from arresting him.

However, in February 2021 the police prayed the Federal High Court, Abuja, to allow the security agency to investigate him.

Kunle Edun, the counsel of the victim, Victor Ephraim, had filed a lawsuit No. EHC/FHR/80/2020 against the politician and Signatious Hotel.

Ephraim said that between Sept. 17 and 18, 2020, Gbagi used the policemen attached to him to forcefully strip him.

The complainant insisted that he was tortured alongside three other female staff members.

He added that Gbagi collected their ATM cards and transferred all the money in their bank accounts to the hotel’s account.

Delivering Judgement, Justice Vera Agbodje held that the stories presented by Gbagi were false, concocted, and not believable.

She noted that Gbagi took laws into his own hands by torturing his ex-staff and consequently ordered him to pay N1million for violating the fundamental human rights of Ephraim.