[Source: BBC]
Nigerian MP Alex Ikwechegh has apologized after a video went viral of him slapping and verbally abusing a taxi driver who had come to deliver food to his house.
Bolt driver Stephen Abuwatseya accepted a job to deliver some snails to Ikwechegh’s home in the capital, Abuja, and began recording their conversation after an argument started over payment.
The lawmaker had accused the driver of disrespecting him and went on to slap him in the clip.
What appeared to have angered the 44-year-old politician from Abia state in south-eastern Nigeria was the driver’s request that he come outside to collect the delivery.
When Mr Abuwatseya later made it clear he was recording, the MP challenged him to call the police chief.
The recording stopped when it appeared the MP grabbed at the phone. In a later clip the driver is seen bare-chested and alleges the politician tore his shirt off and had slapped him three times in total.
In a statement on Monday, the police said they were investigating the matter and urged people to refrain from using the inspector general of police’s name “to intimidate others”.
In his statement, released on Tuesday, Ikwechegh extended his “heartfelt apologies” to the police chief “recognizing the unintended disparagement my remarks may have caused to his person, his office, and the entire institution”.
He also apologized to the House of Representatives, which, according to local media, has since referred the matter to its ethics committee.
Ikwechegh said he and Mr. Abuwatseya had “explored alternative dispute resolution methods” to sort out the issue and had reached a “respectful resolution”.
