“Tracy Ohiri needs psychiatric treatment” – Ohanaeze Ndigbo

The leadership of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo has reacted to the prolonged sexual harassment battle between the Minister of Works, David Umahi and Tracy Ohiri.

The Igbo socio-political group in a statement issued by its Deputy President and national spokesperson, Okechukwu Isiguzoro and Chinyeze Ohia said Ohiri is in dire need of psychiatric evaluation and treatment.

According to the group, it was Ndigbo and Nigerians in general that compensated Ohiri after she apologised over her allegations against the minister.

The statement said, “It has become alarmingly evident that Mrs. Ohiri is in desperate need of immediate psychiatric help. It appears that she may be suffering from dementia or memory – related issues, although she may be unaware of this condition.

“Nigerians and Ndigbo were left aghast when Mrs. Tracy Nicholas Ohiri, whom we had privately cautioned about the perils of blackmailing public government officials and successful businessmen, resurfaced with new baseless allegations,” Ohanaeze said.

Recall that Ohiri had claimed that the Minister harassed her sexually and failed to pay her for media and PR jobs which she delivered during his tenure as the governor of Ebonyi State.

The matter which has been in court had also elicited reactions from several Nigerians with many individuals and groups calling for the minister’s resignation over the matter.

However, recently, the lady backtracked on her claims and apologised to the Minister for her “wrongdoing”.

Subsequently, an activist, Omoyele Sowore who had been in support of Ohiri claimed she only apologised after she was settled by the minister with N110 million.

Reacting to these, Ohanaeze said it is unfortunate that Ohiri has now targeted her lawyer, Marshall Abubakar, and other human rights activists who stood by her during her arrest and prosecution for the false sexual harassment claims against

Umahi.

“It is truly astonishing that just a few days after she voluntarily and without any coercion tendered a public apology to Senator Dave Umahi, the Minister of Works, and pleaded for his forgiveness, while also disowning her fabricated statements and recanting the sexual harassment allegations, she has now come up with fresh accusations.

“This behaviour reaffirms our earlier suspicion that she is acting on the instructions of opposition coalition leaders from the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Their malicious intent is to undermine the integrity of the hard – working Minister of Works, Senator Umahi, and divert his focus from fulfilling his constitutional duty of fixing Nigeria’s roads,” Ohanaeze said.

It added that for the sake of clarity, the Minister never paid Ohiri any form of monetary compensation, let alone the alleged 70 thousand dollars (equivalent to 100 million Naira).

The group said Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on its own initiative, privately reached out to well – meaning Nigerians and Igbos and these individuals, considering her supposed repentance and the public apology which she made to the minister felt that she deserved a small compensation for herself and her family.

Further calling on Ohiri to abide by her earlier statements and the public apology to the minister, the group warned her to desist from further false accusations against Umahi, for the sake of peace.

It stated that should she be rearrested and fails to prove her claims in a court of law, neither Ohanaeze Ndigbo nor anyone else will be in a position to shield her from the consequences of her actions.

“We, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, earnestly call on her family to assist her in seeking urgent medical and psychiatric treatment. It is high time to address the underlying issues that seem to be driving her erratic and irresponsible behaviour,” the group said.