After he was temporarily detained at London’s Heathrow Airport, Nigerian media mogul Raymond Dokpesi was released today.
The founder and former Chairman of Daar Communications was said to have been detained by immigration on Sunday after arriving on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt. The reasons for his detention weren’t exactly clear.
Nairametrics gathered that Dopkesi received an invitation to London from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar.
What happened: The Nigerian media mogul, who is the deputy director-general of the technical and systems division of Abubakar’s presidential campaign council, was invited off the plane before other passengers disembarked. He was then delayed by immigration and airport authorities before his passport was stamped, and he was cleared for entry into the country.
About Dokpesi: He is a multimillionaire businessman and one of Nigeria’s top media moguls. In 1996, he is credited with launching RayPower, the nation’s first privately owned FM radio station, and Africa Independent Television.
Past incidents: In 2015, the Federal High Court of Abuja charged the Nigerian media tycoon and his business, Daar Holding and Investment Limited, with participating in a $2.1 billion money laundering scheme connected to Sambo Dasuki, a retired military officer from Nigeria who served as national security adviser to Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari for a brief period.
After the prosecution concluded its case in November 2018, he entered a no-case submission and made a plea of not guilty to the charges. Judge John Tsoho, who presided over the trial, rejected the no-case motion and required Dokpesi and his company to present their case. The Nigerian Federal Appeal Court cleared the media magnate of all counts of money laundering in 2021. If his recent Heathrow Airport delay has anything to do with his past criminal and corruption allegations, it is unclear.
As of the time of publication, the media mogul’s arrest’s reasons remain unknown.
