A Nigerian businesswoman, Mrs. Tracynither (or Tracy) Nicolas Ohiri, has publicly accused the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, of refusing to pay her for goods she supplied and of making unwanted sexual advances toward her years ago.
Her remarks came as she addressed journalists outside a magistrate’s court in Wuse 6, Abuja on Thursday.
Ohiri claims she was contracted to produce promotional and corporate items for Umahi during his campaign in Ebonyi State more than a decade ago and was never paid for the work. She says the unpaid debt has grown over the years and should now total hundreds of millions of naira.
In one moment she described an encounter with Umahi on a visit to Ebonyi, alleging that he once entered her hotel room “tied up in a towel” and made advances toward her, which she rejected before fleeing.
Ohiri also accused the minister of using senior police officers to harass and unlawfully detain her after she began publicly demanding payment. She said she was arrested at her home in Lagos, taken to Abuja, and remains in custody while appearing before the court.
Rights activist Omoyele Sowore has since confronted Umahi at the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja, calling the handling of her case unjust and saying the dispute should be treated as a civil matter, not a criminal one.
The Minister’s media office has denied that Umahi instructed police to settle a personal matter or that there was intimidation, saying the police acted on a petition from the minister’s legal team and followed normal investigative procedures.
In a statement released on February 25, Umahi’s media aide described the accusations as “inconsistent, contradictory, and lacking clarity” and said that the allegations have been in the public domain for some time, including claims that date back to last year. He added that Umahi was invited to make a statement as part of the ongoing police investigation.
Ohiri is currently before a magistrate’s court on charges related to social media posts about the minister, which police have described as alleged cyberbullying. Human rights activists have rallied around her, demanding due process and fair treatment.
As of Thursday afternoon, neither the Nigeria Police Force nor the Minister’s office had published a full official police report on the matter.
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