Nigerian media mogul Raymond Dokpesi released following delay at Heathrow Airport

Nigerian media mogul Raymond Dokpesi has been released today after being delayed at Heathrow Airport in London earlier this week.

Dokpesi, the founder and former chairman of Daar Communications, a leading broadcasting organization in Nigeria, was allegedly arrested on Sunday by Immigration after arriving on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt. The reasons for the arrest were not initially disclosed.

According to reports, he had been invited to London by Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, at the request of the British government.

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.

Dokpesi is a multimillionaire businessman and one of Nigeria’s foremost media moguls. He is credited with launching the country’s first private FM radio station, RayPower, and Africa Independent Television in 1996.

In 2015, the Nigerian media mogul and his company, Daar Holding and Investment Limited, were accused in the Federal High Court of Abuja in a $2.1-billion money laundering scheme linked to Sambo Dasuki, a retired Nigerian military officer who served as National Security Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan and briefly to Muhammadu Buhari.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges and filed a no-case submission after the prosecution closed its case in November 2018. However, the trial judge, John Tsoho, rejected the no-case submission and ordered Dokpesi and his firm to enter their defense.

In 2021, the Nigerian media mogul was acquitted of all money laundering charges by the Federal Appeal Court of Nigeria. It is not clear if his delay at Heathrow Airport this week was related to his earlier criminal and corruption charges.