Alleged Intimidation of Ogah: Coalition Demands IG Investigation

A group of civil society organizations in Ebonyi State have demanded that Inspector General of Police (IG) Kayode Egbetokun launch an inquiry into claims that House of Representatives member Chinedu Ogah intimidated and harassed some of his constituents in Ikwo Local Government Area, Ebonyi State, using armed thugs.

A number of appeals to police authorities regarding the actions of Ogah, who represents the Ezza South/Ikwo Federal Constituency in the House, had stagnated for months, according to the coalition chaired by Prof. Joseph Agbo, making the call imperative.

In one of the petitions, the coalition charged the lawmaker with land-grabbing and illegal gun possession.

At Ogah’s request, the police arrested and charged Friday Alefia, a journalist, and Chisom Achor, a Tik-toker, among other indigenous residents of the constituency. Other people include Paul Nweke and Chinonso Imeba, Achor’s brother.

The group, which consists of four civil society organizations—the Human Rights Volunteer Corps, HRVC, Human Rights Action Group, Center for the Defense of Human Rights, CDHR, and Good Living Initiative—also stated that some others had been forced to leave their communities in order to avoid becoming victims of the lawmaker’s goons.

On November 25, 2025, the group’s attorneys, Ede S. Ede & Co., sent a petition on behalf of Emeka Kingsley, Nweke Chidi, and others to IG Egbetokun and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas.

“It is our client’s brief that they have seen evil and what appears to be a permanent life in hell fire in the hands of Honourable Chinedu Ogah,” the petition said in part. According to our clients, Hon. Chinedu Nweke Ogah’s acts and behaviors are not only horrible, but they also reflect the cowardly mindset of “might is right.”

“Our clients claim that Hon. Chinedu Nweke Ogah, who feels untouchable and has often boasted that not even the Inspector General of Police can challenge his activities since he is a personal friend, shows firearms with live ammo and shoots without control.

“Our clients claim that Honourable Chinedu Nweke Ogah finds it extremely enjoyable to oppress the poor and any dissenting voice, particularly when the person or people refuse to pay the illegal levy that Chinedu Ogah frequently uses his cronies to levy on the oppressed in the Amagu and other communities in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, or when the person refuses to surrender his land (s) for Hon. Chinedu Ogah to grab.”

The coalition identified 46 people—including the deceased—as victims of the lawmaker’s purported reign of terror and urged the relevant authorities to utilize their good offices right away to launch a covert probe into the claims.

Last week, the coalition condemned Ogah’s widespread attacks on free expression. Ogah has been in the news for detaining people who criticize him on social media in police cells and correctional facilities.

Additionally, the group chastised Prof. Awo Nwaobashi, a current state commissioner, for reportedly ordering the torture of a journalist by Neighborhood Watch members. In recent appearances on radio and television, the coalition’s leader, Agbo, reaffirmed that while the group does not condone character defamation, cyberbullying, or any form of cyberstalking, among other things, the accusations made against Ogah were too serious to be ignored by the relevant authorities.

Agbo, an Ebonyi State University philosophy professor, especially mentioned Alefia, whose case was sent to a Federal High Court. According to him, the judge fined the prosecution N50,000 for trying to prevent him from being granted bail.

The group’s main worry, according to him, is that “as long as there are laws in our land, even if one commits murder, the laws have provided for how such a person should be handled according to law.”

“As a coalition, we have never supported cyberbullying of any individual and we never will. However, under military rule, we do not want cybercrime legislation to become another Public Officers Protection Against False Accusation Decree Number 2. The coalition leader went on, “We are concerned that the cybercrimes law seems to be slipping into that Decree.”

We are arguing that Hon. Ogah did not go to make any arrests. The cops did. None of them were dragged to these courts by Hon. Ogah. The police did as well.

It is the judiciary that is considering these cases. However, the point we are trying to make is this: Why do you arrest someone for cyberbullying or defamation, handcuff him like a regular criminal, and then leave him at the station for weeks, days, or even months in the case of Friday Alefia? What is the rationale behind referring a cyberbullying case to a magistrate court?