A former secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Owerri branch, Chinedu Agu, says he has been invited by the police in Imo State over allegations of criminal defamation linked to Governor Hope Uzodinma.
Mr Agu, who disclosed this in a Facebook post on Friday, 9 September, shared a copy of the police letter addressed to him by the X-Squad Unit of the command. The invitation directed him to appear at the police headquarters in Owerri on Wednesday, 17 September, for questioning over alleged “defamation of character and conduct likely to cause breach of peace.”
Although the letter did not specify the complainant, Mr Agu alleged that the petition originated from the state’s Ministry of Information.
The lawyer, who pledged to honour the summons, described the development as an attempt to gag critics of the government.
“Imo has returned to an era where freedom of expression is suppressed, truth-tellers are silenced, and citizens demanding accountability are punished,” he said.
Advocacy and Criticism
Mr Agu has in recent months been outspoken about governance issues in Imo, especially the failure to appoint a substantive acting chief judge after the compulsory retirement of Justice T. E. Chukwuemeka Chikeka in November 2024, following a National Judicial Council recommendation.
Through lawsuits and open letters, he has pressed Governor Uzodinma to prioritise judicial leadership in the state.
In late August, his articles sharply criticised the government’s decision to host a dinner for Imo lawyers in Enugu during the NBA Annual General Conference, while the state judiciary, he argued, was “crippled.”
One of the pieces, “How Can We Feast While the House of Justice Burns,” questioned the propriety of such a celebration. Another, titled “Tears from Enugu: A Lawyer’s Heartbreaking Diary from a State that Works to a State in Ruins,” compared developments in Enugu with what he described as “institutional decay” in Imo.
The Imo Commissioner for Information, Declan Emelumba, later dismissed his writings as “Satanic Verses” and accused him of spreading falsehood, a reaction Mr Agu says triggered waves of attacks against him from government media aides.
Despite the pressure, he insists he will continue advocating for transparency and accountability in the state.
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