Ikedi Ohakim
Ikedi Ohakim, the embattled former Governor of Imo State, has sought for the withdrawal of charges against him.
He has demanded that the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, should withdraw the multiple criminal charges filed against him by the police, saying he did not circulate a nude video of any woman.
According to him, the nude video upon which he was now being charged should be subjected to “a thorough forensic investigation” to determine, between him and his accuser, who made the video.
He also called for a comprehensive investigation of all the issues that gave rise to the multiple charges against him.
Ohakim, in the petition to the IGP, filed by his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, drew attention to the two charges filed against him before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory and the Abuja division of the Federal High Court.
The letter entitled: “Re: Unlawful and malicious prosecution, harassment, intimidation, defamation, and false information against Dr. Ikedi Ohakim at the behest of Ms. Chinyere Amuchienwa -Igwegbe”, was obtained by journalists in Abuja on Friday.
The charges with Ref. No. FCT/HC/CR/993/2020 and FHC/ABJ/CS/287/2020 bordered on alleged false information and alleged publication of the nude pictures of the nominal complainant, Ms Chinyere Amuchienwa-Igwegbe.
The ex-governor referred the IGP to his petition of January 20, 2020, wherein, he complained about assault on his person by Ms. Chinyere Amuchienwa-Igwegbe (hereafter: “Ms Igwegbe or Amuchienwa”) at a Hotel in Abuja and other unlawful acts by her.
He said the contents of the said petition were clear, precise, and unambiguous and had then, at the request of the police, subsequently submitted credible evidence to support it.
The letter reads, “The complaint of our client was still under investigation by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Federal Investigation Bureau, in connection with which our client and Ms. Amuchienwa were interviewed several times at the office of DIG – FIB when on September 7, 2020, the Special Tactical Squad of the same FIB extended a new invitation to our client over a fresh petition brought by Ms Igwegbe on the same matter.
“And this was just days after our client was invited by the National Agency for Trafficking in Persons over the similar petition by Ms Amuchienwa against our client, and which petition she concealed from the police.
“In the interim, compelled by our concerns that this whole matter was now bordering on persecution, we commenced judicial proceedings to protect our client’s constitutional rights, pursuant to which the Court – on September 10 2020 – issued a restraining Order, stating “That all parties in this Suit are hereby ordered to maintain the status quo and should not do anything in connection with the subject matter and should stay all action whatsoever pending the determination of the substantive motion in this suit”.
“This is an addition to a similar and contemporaneous order against NAPTIP and a re-affirmation of the two orders on 25th September 2020.
“All these orders and other processes were duly served on the concerned police officers, including particularly the former CP Legal (Mr. Osayemo). Yet, beginning from September 21 to the present, the police – ostensibly on the improper promptings of Ms. Amuchienwa – has filed two separate charges against our client in two separate courts, containing a myriad of allegations that are so wild that it seems a stretch to relate them to anything our client might have done. In addition to these anomalies, we have been informed that the third round of charges is underway.
“It is noteworthy that the first round of Charges was grounded on the assault incident at the Abuja Hotel, in which our client was the complainant. How the whole story later changed to the point that our client has been charged for false information does not comport with reason and what Police initially discovered on the scene. In addition, how was the conclusion reached, in the same vein, that our client was defrauding Nigerians (including Ms Igwegbe), using the name of Babatunde Fashola, the Honorable Minister for Works? It is clear from the land documents (which the Police has) that the land in question does not belong to our client, so how come the Police believed Ms Igwegbe that she paid N500 million to our client for a land that is not in the name of our client? And how did Ms. Igwegbe effect said payments – by check, cash, or transfer? And how could she make such huge payments without our client executing any instrument of transfer of title, such as a Deed of Assignment or even a simple receipt?
“These are questions the former CP Legal (Osayemo) should have resolved before charging our client for defrauding Ms Igwegbe of Five Hundred Million Naira, which Charges they libelously published in both mainstream and social media.
“The second set of Charges relates to Ms Igwegbe’s claims that our client made (photoshopped or filmed – according to her, she was not sure) and published her nude video in viral social media. Ms Igwegbe, either by herself or through Counsel, has variously made said video available to the police and other agencies she petitioned on the same allegations (particularly NAPTIP), all in a desperate attempt to frame our client. At the same time, she proceeded to make an audio recording of her voice, accusing our client of having made the nude video at issue.
“Sir, we make bold to say that it does not comport with prosecutorial best practices for our client to be charged for either making, photoshopping, or publishing such nude video without forensic evidence directly implicating our client.
“For this reason, we hereby call for forensic investigation of who actually made the video, whether it is real or photoshopped and from whose phone or other devices it was first published or sent out. Attached is a DVD copy of the said video (even though the police had previously seen it from other sources) for ease of your investigation.”
Ohakim said he has retained the services of a certified expert, Rowland Azuike, to transcribe the contents of said audio and video.
Our correspondent reported that at the High Court of Imo State, the former governor had deposed, among other issues, that in view of the foregoing, the multiple rounds of charges – totally lacking in any scintilla of evidence – against him and the way and manner of his prosecution in various courts at the behest of the same nominal complainant (Ms. Igwegbe) “is reprehensible, unethical, unprofessional and condemnable, and ought not be allowed to stand.”
He said, “Ms. Igwegbe must produce evidence of all the receipts and the name of the person who took delivery of the items she claimed our client purchased from her in the amount of N110 million; and why she is variously stating the amount in Euros and Naira.
“The nude video upon which our client is now being charged be subjected to a thorough forensic investigation to determine, between our client and Igwegbe, who made the video; whether the video is real or photoshopped, who first sent the video out from the device with which it was made and the person(s) to whom the video was sent and when?
