FURTHER UPDATE REGARDING EMEKA UGWUONYE VS THE NIGERIAN POLICE

As you know, the case between the police and Emeka Ugwuonye has been mainly a game of time. Everybody believes that the reason for charging Emeka Ugwuonye with murder and armed robbery was simply to get him mired in the time-consuming processes of the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria. So, it has always been about time. The police calculated that by the time he finally wriggles out of it, he would have been badly bruised and DPA irreversibly damaged. We believe that Emeka Ugwuonye understood that game but we want to be sure our members also understand the goal of the police. The way our Founder and Admin members have planned to deal with this is to deploy the weapon of patience and endurance in their defence. Once the enemies understand that we are not in a rush or in haste, they realize they will not win this game. We believe that Emeka Ugwuonye is a man of great patience. He wants our members to also deploy patience and fortitude as their weapon of defence. Emeka was arrested 26th November, 2018 without a court order and was not arraigned till 14th December 2018, (a whole 18 days in legal time limbo). He was then arraigned on 14th December, 2018 a day before the court was to embark on Christmas vacation. That led to the hearing on his bail being adjourned till 10th January 2019, (a whole additional 25 days in time limbo). On 10th January, 2019, the prosecution was not ready to oppose Emeka’s bail application, but instead, they asked for more time. The court granted them 6 days, till 16th January, 2019. On 16th January, the Court wanted to take one week to render its judgment on bail. But the prosecution said all their lawyers would be unavailable on 23rd and 24th January. The court had no choice than to move it to 30th January. By then, Emeka would have been in detention for 2 months and 4 days. The question that matters now is: what will happen to Emeka and DPA after 64 days in detention? The enemy will be shocked to know that Emeka Ugwuonye and DPA will be stronger and far more resolute on the 65th day than they were on the 1st day. Even if Emeka is detained for 100 years, he and DPA will be stronger each extra day in detention. This is what the police failed to realize – that they will not win the game of time that they have chosen to play. Emeka Ugwuonye is greatful to DPA members for their strength and for their support. He asked for nothing other than patience and more courage. We must stay focused. It is a fact that the enemies are not having it easy at all. Their desperation is getting more unbearable for them. We are watching carefully the wind that has been blowing across the Nigerian police, force starting with the removal of Mr. Idris as the IGP and the removal of the chief liar, Mr. Jimoh Moshood, as the PPRO. If you recalled, on the 18th October, 2018, Mr. Jimoh Moshood issued a press statement denying the existence of Abattoir detention center and falsely stating that Emeka Ugwuonye was derobed from the practice of law in Nigeria and that Emeka was guilty of committing crimes. For that defamatory statement, Emeka Ugwuonye threatened to sue Jimoh Moshood and the IGP. To try to avoid any such suit from Emeka, Jimoh Moshood conspired with others to fabricate murder and armed robbery charges against Emeka Ugwuonye. Today, Jimoh Moshood is no more in a position to issue press statements. He is not even worth suing anymore. So, Emeka may be in detention, but the people crying are Jimoh Moshood and his co-conspirators. Very soon, DPA will assess the direction of the wind. If there is sufficient indication that the new police leadership is willing to carry out the necessary reforms in the force, DPA will support it. In fact, because of the change in the IGP, DPA will revise the list of recipients of its recent report on the police to ensure that the new IGP will receive a copy of that report. Again, we state that despite any challenges DPA faces today in light of the detention of its Founder, DPA has a lot to be proud of. For instance, we are proud of our members for staying resolute in their fight for a just and fair society. We are proud of our Admin members for continuing to give their time and their best to the organization despite the absence of the Founder. We are proud of our members for their support for the Founder in the Court cases. We are happy that the message of DPA is being felt across the country and DPA is helping to catalogue the atrocities committed by police officers during the regime of the last IGP. And finally, in the past one month, the number of Abattoir inmates has been reduced by 30%. We believe that the reduction is due in large part to the pressure from DPA. We just need to continue doing what we have been doing.

Thank you and God bless.