Former Governorship candidate in Abia State, Alex Otti, has revealed the alleged role of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and the former Commissioner of Police, Ene Okon, in the harassment and illegal arrest of critics of the Ikpeazu-led administration.
Recall that Mr Otti contested against Ikpeazu under the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). In 2015, an appeal court removed Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party as governor of Abia State and declared Otti the winner. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court upturned the judgment and affirmed the election of Ikpeazu as Governor.
POLITICS NIGERIA reported how Mr Okon has recently transferred sequel to the killing of a middle-aged businessman, Ifeanyi Arunsi, at Ohafia Community.
Mr Arunsi was murdered by a police officer on Friday. While the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu has ordered an investigation into the case, he had replaced Mr Okon with Janet Agbede. Meanwhile, in a press release sent to POLITICS NIGERIA on Tuesday, Mr Otti noted that Governor Ikpeazu has protested the transfer of Mr Okon.
According to Otti, a letter with the caption: “PROTEST AGAINST THE TRANSFER OF THE ABIA STATE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, CP ENEH OKON” was written by the Governor to the Chairman of the Police Service Commission on Wednesday, April 22, 2020.
He stated that the letter contained various allegations against him.
“This letter made many weighty allegations against me including that I am a sponsor of IPOB, that I set up the attack at Ohafia where a policeman shot a young man and the youth of the community carried out a reprisal attack on a police station and that I caused the removal of the CP again for refusing IPOB and detractors of the government to riot in Abia.”
“I would have responded immediately I saw this bizarre letter but I learnt that the Governor and his team were strategizing on how to deny the letter and christen it “fake”. Somehow, they have not responded officially close to one week after.”
Otti revealed that the letter was masterminded by three people; Mr Okon, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Anthony Agbazuere and the Commissioner for Information, John Okiyi Kalu.
“They subsequently sold the evil plot to Okezie Ikpeazu who had no problems lending his name and signature to it. I will reveal more information on this if any of them denies.”
Speaking on what birthed the letter, he noted that the Governor and his Chief Of Staff had formed the habit of intimidating and unlawfully arresting people who are opposed to them using the former Commissioner of Police and some policemen at the legal department of the State Command.
“Once they decide on who to incarcerate, the police would arrest the person, based on petitions raised by the private Chambers of the Chief of Staff, and bundle the person to a compromised magistrate court. The charges are normally cybercrime, threat to the life of the governor or terrorism,” Otti said.
” The Magistrate knowing fully well that he has no jurisdiction over matters like these would remand the victim to Afara Prisonin Umuahia. The family of their victim would start running around and would be advised by the same captors to go and beg the governor and write an undertaking not to criticize the governor again,” He added.
Failing which, the matter would then move to the appropriate court, sometimes after one month of being held in prison where the victim would now be granted bail.
Citing an instance, Otti explained that the case of Emperor Ogbonna, a human rights lawyer that the Governor mentioned in his letter is still live as he is still being held in Afara Prison.
POLITICS NIGERIA learnt that Over 20 policemen in company with Chief of Staff to the governor, Tony Agbazuere, and Commissioner of Police, Ene Okon, were said to have stormed Ogbonna’s chambers and arrested him at about 8:30 am on March 24.
It was gathered that Mr Ogbonna and another person were arraigned for cybercrimes and intentionally publishing malicious and threatening messages through the internet against Governor Ikpeazu.
The offences, according to the charge sheet, are punishable under Section 27(1) (a) and 18(1) of cybercrimes (Prohibition Prevention ETC) Act, 2015.
Otti said, in the protest letter, the governor attached Emperor’s Facebook posts where he criticized the federal government and cunningly refused to attach the recent posts for which he ordered his arrest.
“Meanwhile this gentleman who he is still being kept in prison 6 weeks after even in this pandemic period is presumed innocent by our laws until proven guilty. To set the records straight, I do not know Emperor Ogbonna,” the former governorship candidate clarified.
In reaction to Ogbonna’s arrest, Otti claimed he put a call across to Mr Okon. “I started by telling him that I did not know Mr Ogbonna but as an Abia citizen, I thought I should intervene.
I reminded him that this is a democracy and warned him about being used by the Governor and his co travellers to abuse the fundamental human rights of Abians including Emperor Ogbonna.”
Otti cited a similar experience with another Abian, Mr Don Norman Obinna, a journalist who was also picked up about a year ago under similar circumstances.
According to him, the petition against Obinna was also written by the same law office of the Chief of Staff, again to the Commissioner of Police, Abia State.
“When I intervened, CP Okon claimed he did not know about the plot. Investigations showed that indeed, he was at the centre of the plot. Towards the end of last year, another Abia citizen, this time one of Ikpeazu’s former aides, Dr Chris Nwagboso was also picked up for criticizing Ikpeazu.”
“They humiliated him and got him to write letters of apology and undertaking to the governor before he was released. There are lots of other such illegal arrests and detention under CP Okon. The truth is that as an enlightened Abia Citizen, I will not keep quiet when I see things going wrong. It doesn’t matter If I know the victim or not. Just like Frantz Fanon said, “every onlooker is either a coward or a traitor” and I am neither.”
The APGA candidate then challenged Ikpeazu to come up with proofs to show that he is the sponsor of IPOB or forever hide his head in shame.
“I consider this as a cheap attempt to pitch me against the authorities which will fail. It was actually his incompetence in dealing with the a small insurrection that ballooned into the python dance.”
“Simply put, Ikpeazu was the one that called for the python dance. On the Ohafia incident, even his CP Okon admitted that the policeman that pulled the trigger was not only under the influence of alcohol, but was on an illegal duty.”
Nonetheless, he demanded that Ikpeazu withdraws the letter to the Chairman, Police Service Commission and apologise to the aforementioned people for misleading them.
“That Ikpeazu sends an unreserved apology to me for defaming my character and false accusation.
“That Mr Emperor Ogbonna who is still unlawfully detained in Afara prison be set free immediately, together with all others that are incarcerated in Abia Prisons for criticizing the governor and his Godfathers.”
“That the governor ensures that people working under him stop harassing innocent Abia Citizens for airing their views about governance in Abia State,” He concluded.
It is men or people like you that Nigeria is looking for, people who will stand against injustices and abomination, that are happening in our country today; pls my brother, speak aloud, the devil and his cohorts will not do you anything, provided you are saying the truth.