Barrister Chinedu Agu is a former secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Owerri branch, who is being prosecuted on allegations of criminal defamation and incitement by the Imo State Government, using the Police.
Below is his experience sharing….
It is no longer news that on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, I honoured the invitation by the X-Squad Unit of the Police over allegations of “Criminal Defamation of the Governor of Imo State” and “conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace.”
This account is not intended to sensationalise the matter, but rather to lay bare certain uncomfortable truths which I am prepared to stand by, as they are rooted in incontrovertible facts.
I shall set out these facts under three clear points:
1. The petition against me was directly initiated by the Imo State Ministry of Information.
2. The so-called “civil society organisation”: The body presented as the initiator of the petition—Imo Democratic Alliance, allegedly coordinated by Umukoro Marvis Udechukwu—is in reality a non-existent organisation in Nigeria, with no registration and no traceable office address anywhere in the country.
3. But for the unity of mind and courage demonstrated by Magistrates in Imo State, and the overwhelming solidarity of lawyers, civil society organisations, and friends, I would almost certainly have been languishing in detention by now.
Having laid out these three fundamental truths, it is only proper that I now address them one after the other, in order to shed light on the rot, the decay, and the complicity that continue to fester in our state.
1. THE ORIGINAL INITIATOR OF THE PETITION AGAINST ME.
At exactly 12:47 p.m. on 12 September 2025, my phone rang. The caller introduced himself as a policeman and asked if I was Chinedu Agu. Without hesitation, he informed me that there was a petition against me for “criminal defamation of His Excellency, the Governor of Imo State.” He further requested to know if I would honour an invitation to appear before the X-Squad Unit on Wednesday, 17 September 2025.
Curious, I asked about the source of the petition. He replied, without flinching, that it came directly from the Imo State Ministry of Information—and even went on to mention the name of the official who signed it.
In line with my rights, I requested a copy of the petition. His answer was as troubling as it was revealing. He said I would have to “call Oga” for a copy. When I reached out, Oga categorically told me I could not be given a copy of the petition except I applied formally to the Commissioner of Police for a Certified True Copy.
This response pierced me. How can a citizen be accused of such grave offences, yet be denied access to the very petition that supposedly bears those allegations? What happened to the elementary principles of fair hearing and transparency?
Eventually, after we settled on a date for the interview, the officer reluctantly sent me the Invitation Letter via WhatsApp. That letter, bare as it was, stood as a symbol of something deeper—the rot and decay in our system, where power is wielded not to protect truth and justice, but to intimidate voices that dare to speak.
This refusal by the police to furnish a citizen with a copy of the petition forming the basis of his invitation raises grave constitutional and statutory issues. Under Section 36(6)(a) & (b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), every person facing criminal allegations has the right to be informed promptly and in detail of the nature of the offence, and to have adequate facilities for the preparation of his defence. Denying access to the petition until one applies for a Certified True Copy clearly violates this right.
The Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Imo State, 2020 (ACJL) reinforces this. Section 8 ACJL guarantees fair hearing, while Section 17 ACJL mandates humane treatment and respect for the dignity of suspects. Transparency at the investigative stage is therefore not a matter of grace, but a statutory obligation.
This practice, whereby the police serve an invitation letter yet withhold the petition that underpins it, fosters intimidation, secrecy, and abuse of authority. It effectively disarms the citizen and turns what should be a fact-finding process into a trap.
For this reason, I shall be filing a fresh legal action to invite the courts to pronounce on the propriety of this sustained unconstitutional practice. It is a novel area of law [as ot relates to police invitation], and the Nigerian judiciary must seize the opportunity to lay down a clear precedent that restores balance between the powers of the police and the rights of the citizen.
*2. IMO DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE: THE SELF-STYLED CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATION PUTATIVELY COORDINATED BY ONE UMUKORO MARVIS UDECHUKWU, WHICH WAS FRONTED AND BANDIED ABOUT AS THE INITIATORS OF THE PETITION AGAINST ME, IS A NON-EXISTENT BODY IN NIGERIA, WITH NO REGISTERED OFFICE ADDRESS ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY.*
When I arrived at the station with a team of lawyers numbering about seventy-two, I was ushered in together with the Chairman of NBA Owerri and Chief H.N. Duroha. The officer who introduced himself as the 2/IC laboured to persuade us that the petition did not emanate from the Ministry of Information but rather from the so-called Imo Democratic Alliance.
In an attempt to convince us, he brought out a two-page petition and read the first page aloud. He then handed me over to the IPO to whom the matter had been assigned.
Once in the IPO’s office, he made to read the petition to me. I promptly interjected, reminding him that I am sufficiently literate to read the document myself, and I requested to personally peruse it. What I saw was nothing short of a farce: a hastily contrived letterhead, garishly designed, with “IMO DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE” written in full capital letters. Its motto, inscribed in red, declared “FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE.” At the far right corner of the organisation’s name was a needless sketch of the map of Imo State.
The so-called letterhead bore no office address. It was dated 2nd September 2025. It was captioned, “Criminal Defamation of the Governor of Imo State and Incitement of the public against Imo State Government and the police by Barr. Chinedu Agu.” The petition read as follows:
“On Sunday, August 31, 2025, while the majority of Imo citizens were on their way to church, they were bombarded with a disturbing message calling them to revolt against the state government and the police. The author of this revolutionary message is Barr. Chinedu Agu, who openly displayed his phone number (see attached message).
In the said inciting message, entitled ‘IMO STATE – WHERE JUSTICE IS ON VACATION DURING COURT VACATION’ (published August 31, 2025), Barr. Agu alleged that the people of Imo State were now living in fear due to the absence of a Chief Judge. He claimed that the police had usurped the role of the judiciary, while the government ‘carries out its illegitimate acts unchallenged.’ To further heighten the sense of fear and siege among the citizenry, he declared: ‘The courts are closed, and justice has been kidnapped, not by bandits in the bush, but by bandits in government. This is not governance. This is tyranny draped in stinking bureaucracy. The Tigerbase — those specialists in the act of unchecked barbaric, brutish savagery and callous human rights abuse — have now assumed the roles of accuser, judge, and executioner.’
“These are not isolated remarks. A day earlier, on Saturday, August 30, 2025, Barr. Agu published yet another incitement, titled ‘TEARS FROM ENUGU: A LAWYER’S HEARTBREAKING DIARY FROM A STATE THAT WORKS TO A STATE IN RUINS.’ In that piece, he wrote provocatively:
‘In Imo, the story is different. Young men drive with their hearts in their mouths. Police stop you for sport. Until the leadership changes how it sees governance, nothing will change in this abandoned property called Imo State. Enugu is working. Imo is rotting.’
“Mr. Commissioner, Sir, the clear implication of Agu’s submission is that Imo State has become a lawless society where the government and police have turned into terrorists. There is no doubt that the intention of the writer is to incite an insurrection against state institutions through the vicious provocation of the citizens. The above quotations speak for themselves: phrases like ‘abandoned property,’ ‘bandits in government’ and ‘brutish savagery’ are obviously aimed to ignite public disorder.
“Our concern is that if Barr. Agu is not called to order now, he may be on his way to inciting the citizenry into violent action, including brutal attacks on the police, reminiscent of the EndSARS protests.
“We look forward to your timely intervention, Sir.
Signed: UMUKORO MARVIS UDECHUKU
CO-ORDINATOR,
08106710552.” End of petition.
In my response, I pointed out that this petition does not disclose any prima facie offence of “criminal defamation” of the Governor of Imo State. Everything I wrote in my two pieces is factual, and truth is a complete defence to defamation.
Furthermore, even assuming (without conceding) that the Governor had been defamed, the law does not permit a third party to lay such a complaint. Defamation is personal, and no busybody can maintain an action in that regard.
I also observed that the so-called petition was wretchedly deficient in that it did not annex the two original write-ups. This prevented the police from conducting a holistic, contextual reading. Instead, the petitioner performed a surgical mutilation of the texts; cutting out organs that suited his persecutorial purpose. I challenged the IPO to retrieve the full write-ups from the internet and identify a single line, among the seventeen pages, that was untrue.
Significantly, the fictitious organisation did not allege defamation of itself. Nor did the writer allege defamation of his own person. This raises the obvious question: what exactly was I doing in the police station?
In my first article [as referenced], I simply highlighted glaring facts already in the public domain: the absence of an Acting Chief Judge, the lack of Vacation Courts, the non-existence of a substantive Attorney-General, and the paralysis of the Judicial Service Commission. These are not inventions but truths, and they expose a justice sector on life support. Thankfully, the OC X-Squad, a brilliant Ph.D. holder in law, is capable of recognizing this.
In the second piece, I drew a comparative analysis between the roads in Enugu and those in Imo. I then listed, for emphasis, twenty major roads within a seven-kilometre radius of Government House that are in deplorable condition. These include: the road in front of the Police Headquarters [I had to start with this]; Akwakuma Junction to Hardel Junction; Akwakuma Junction to Egbeada Village; Amakohia Flyover to Onitsha Road; Amakohia Flyover to Orji Flyover; Rochas Roundabout to Works Layout; Ama-wire Junction to Umudagu; Ama-wire Junction to Bishop’s Court; major streets in Prefab; major streets in Aladimma; Standard Shoe Junction to IMSU Junction, across Works Layout; Rapour Junction to Works Layout; World Bank Last Roundabout to Umuguma; World Bank Last Roundabout to Hospital Junction; World Bank Main Roads; Everyday Supermarket Roundabout at World Bank to Yar’Adua Drive; Everyday Supermarket Roundabout at World Bank to Onitsha Road; Concorde Junction by Port Harcourt Road down to Ebere Links Fuel Station; Hospital Junction down to New Owerri, cutting across Harvester’s Hotel Road, the High Court and stretching to Saga Suit; 40–40 Junction extending beyond Ojukwu Library; and Udenwa Estate Roundabout stretching down to Saga Suite. These are just a few, but they capture the reality.
As for the allegation of “inciting the public,” I threw the challenge to the police to point to a single line in my write-ups that expressly called for insurrection. I noted that the notoriety of Tiger Base, the notorious police unit, is well documented not only in the state but nationally and internationally. Many human rights organisations have chronicled its abuses, and it was discussed extensively at the recently concluded NBA Annual General Conference in Enugu (August 2025). These are facts, not fabrications.
Upon leaving the police, I immediately conducted a search on the CAC portal. As I suspected, Imo Democratic Alliance is not a registered organisation. It is therefore legally non-existent. To use such a phantom entity to pursue any legitimate course is criminal. I have obtained the official CAC search report, which I shall present to the police.
I am fully aware of my legal rights and the issues that the use of a fictitious organisation in this context raises. Rest assured, I will escalate this matter to the Inspector-General of Police, the Police Service Commission, and the Corporate Affairs Commission, using every appropriate legal channel available.
*3. BUT FOR THE UNITY OF PURPOSE AMONG THE MAGISTRATES IN IMO STATE, AND THE UNWAVERING SOLIDARITY OF MY COLLEAGUES, I WOULD HAVE BEEN THREE DAYS OLD IN DETENTION TODAY.*
On the evening of Tuesday, prior to my scheduled appearance on Wednesday, I received credible signals that my detention was already being plotted. Indeed, strenuous efforts were made by the police to procure a magistrates’ signature for a detention order. Fortunately, not a single magistrate could be persuaded to lend legitimacy to such a questionable move.
Frustrated by that setback, and confronted with the overwhelming solidarity of more than seventy-two lawyers who accompanied me to the station, the police had no choice but to release me on bail, on self-recognizance.
A fresh appointment has now been fixed for Tuesday next week at 1:00 p.m. I shall honour that invitation once again, to see whether new allegations may be conjured from this very piece. But this time, it would be wise for them to proceed only through a legitimate entity, rather than a fictitious front.
What then are the undeniable truths from this entire episode?
1. That the original initiator of the petition against me is not none other than the Imo State Ministry of Information.
2. That the so-called Imo Democratic Alliance, paraded as a civil society organisation and fronted by Umukoro Marvis Udechukwu, is a non-existent body in Nigeria, without registration, office address, or legal identity.
3. That but for the resolute independence of the magistracy in Imo State and the unparalleled solidarity of my colleagues and civil society allies, I would by now have been a “three-day old” detainee.
These are facts that cannot be wished away, however uncomfortable they may be.
As for me, I welcome any genuine legal process. I therefore urge the police to proceed and prosecute me for the alleged offence of criminal defamation. Let the law take its course.
But should the police, after my second appointment next week Tuesday, fail to initiate prosecution within seven days, I shall, without hesitation, institute legal proceedings to challenge this charade, both the sustained unconstitutional practice of inviting citizens without disclosing the petition and the abuse of fictitious organisations in criminal process. This is a matter of principle, and I am prepared to see it through, not merely for myself but for the strengthening of our democracy, the rule of law, and the civic space in Nigeria.
Chinedu Agu can be reached at ezeomeaku@gmail.com
20 September 2025.
