A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chukwuemeka Ofodile has petitioned the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and the Minister of Police Affairs, requesting for an investigation into frivolous allegations, constant harassment, intimidation and flagrant violation of the rights of his clients who are prominent sons of Agunese Mmaku Autonomous Community in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State.
Ofodile demanded for a probe of the alleged roles played by the traditional ruler of Agunese community, His Royal Highness Igwe Cyprian Maduabuchi Nevobasi and security personnel, in the ordeal of his clients, namely Vincent Okafor Esq., Theophilus Chukwu, David Okeke, Chief Okeke Emmanuel Uwa, Chief Ochie Moses Cuka, Chief Okolie James Ikegwuonu and Chief Simeon Ogbonna Okike.
The senior lawyer equally asked for the investigation of the roles allegedly played by the security officers involved in the entire saga of arrests and incarceration of his clients, particularly the involvement of two officers of the Criminal Investigation Department (C.I.D) of the Enugu State Police Command, Blessing Oguche and one Nnamdi, to see whether due process was followed.
The petitioner urged the Minister of Justice and his Police Affairs counterpart to order the immediate release of his clients who are still being incarcerated at the Enugu Correctional Centre for bailable charges, most of which are baseless.
The petition dated September 19, 2024 was made available to reporters in Abuja.
The petition reads in part: “Note that sometime in 2022, HRH igwe Cyprian Novebasi maliciously attempted to mislead and weaponise government agencies by filing a baseless petition to the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security departments, falsely accusing 16 prominent men of Agunese community, including our clients whose names appear in this petition, of sponsoring the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
“This was a blatant attempt to silence these young and progressive individuals who opposed his oppressive rule and to force them into submission or exile. When his deceitful plot was exposed and rejected, he was compelled to retract the false allegations. However, since his initial scheme failed, HRH Igwe Cyprian Maduabuchi Nevobasi has now resorted to fabricating new charges, accusing these same men of inciting local conflict and violence, this time, leveraging corrupt police officers to arrest and intimidate them.
“His actions are clear abuse of his traditional office, as he continues to mislead authorities and manipulate the justice system to prosecute these individuals for standing against his tyranny. We urge the authorities to see through these repeated attempts to use false claims as a means of consolidating his power and oppressing his critics.”
The lawyer insisted that it was the calculated efforts of the monarch to strike mercilessly on gentlemen of goodwill in the community, by using the Nigeria Police Force and the DSS to haunt, harass, intimidate, arrest, and instigate baseless court charges to instill fear in them and other well-meaning members of the community.
He noted that since after the December 30, 2021 town union elections, which the monarch thwarted and cancelled over alleged security threat, members of the community speaking up against him and his perceived rivals have been framed, arrested and accused of all kinds of trumped up charges.
He maintained that his clients were being persecuted because they insisted that the town union should function freely and independently, while it works in concert with the traditional stool for the overall development of the community.
He stated that officers of the Nigeria Police Force arrested Mr. Theophilus Chukwu and he was arraigned on May 8, 2024, and then released on August 13, 2024, only for him to be re-arrested on the same day and re-arraigned for the second time on August 20, 2024.
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According to him, Chukwu’s offense was aligning with those opposed to the sale of community land by the monarch, and his philanthropy and goodwill, having mobilised illustrious sons of the community to pool their meager resources together to assist their neglected community in carrying out some self-help projects, such as the renovation of dilapidated schools and maintenance of rural roads, which did not appear to have gone down well with the traditional ruler.
The petitioner stated that Vincent Okafor as a private legal practitioner had filed a fundamental rights action on behalf of Mr. Theophilus Chukwu at the Port Harcourt Federal High Court, and he was arrested and detained.
“The officers of the Nigeria Police Force arrested Barrister Vincent Okafor on September 6, 2024. When the charge was shown to Vincent Okafor, he expressed complete surprise, saying he was not even in the village. On the day in question, August 13, 2024, he was in faraway Lagos, making an appearance for a client in charges No. M/44/2024-C.O.P vs. Odinaka Orji.
“Mr. David Okeke was brought to the Enugu State Correctional Centre without arraignment or remand order. The day they took him to court, the business of the court was over. They took him to State C.I.D Enugu detention. The State C.I.D rejected him and they took him to Enugu Correctional Centre.”
