- Ben Peters Ally: It’s a lie, a minor incident….
By Abiola Olawale
The alleged arrest of Nigerian billionaire businessman Benedict Peters, popularly known as Ben Peters, has ignited a firestorm of controversy.
This is as Ghana’s National Security Command in a viral video maintained that it arrested Peters, a well known figure in Africa’s oil, gas, and mining industries, on Monday, April 7, in a dramatic joint operation involving National Security operatives, the Ghana Police Service, and the Ghana Armed Forces at the Aurora Apartments in Kanda, just 800 meters from the Jubilee House, in Ghana.
Peters, founder and CEO of Aiteo, one of Africa’s largest indigenous oil producers, was said to have been arrested alongside 25 others at the Aurora Apartments in Kanda, a residential area near the heavily secured Jubilee House, according to Ghana’s Operational Security Command at its presidency.
Mustapha Gbande, Deputy Director of Operations at the office of Ghana’s President, who spoke with the press said Peters was arrested following allegations that he blocked access to the apartment complex with vehicles and unauthorized armed personnel, causing significant disruption to public safety and acting in breach of the country’s domestic laws.
Gbande said Peters allegedly blocked the road using some of his armed security personnel because the owners of the apartment purportedly failed to give him key to some rooms.
Gbande also cited an alleged unauthorized use of a police siren on one of Peters’ vehicles as part of the charges preferred against the billionaire businessman.
However, Dele Momodu, a veteran Nigerian journalist, who addressed the media concerning the arrest story related to Peters, debunked the allegations, stressing that the reports were being exaggerated.
Momodu described the situation as a “routine traffic clearance operation” near a construction site rather than a formal detention. Taking to his verified Instagram page earlier, Momodu said: “Any news that bears Nigerian citizens in it often generates some hoopla and hysteria. But as someone who knows Benedict reasonably well as a well-informed and unassuming businessman, I knew the lurid picture being painted of him was obviously littered with tarbrush.”
Momodu further disclosed that he had personally spoken to Peters following the incident. According to him, the businessman confirmed that Ghanaian authorities handled the situation with professionalism and speed.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time Ben Peters has made headlines in Ghana. The billionaire, who also heads Bravura Holdings, a mining company with interests across Africa, has reportedly been a subject of controversy in some cases in the country.
In 2022, Ghana’s current Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, accused Peters of profiting excessively from a COVID-19 testing contract at Kotoka International Airport, alleging he earned $130 million while the Ghana Airport Company made just $8 million.
In 2023, Ablakwa also linked Peters to a “Heaven Scandal,” claiming his company, Heaven Builders Limited, purchased 62.14 acres of airport land at a suspiciously low price.
