I WOULD HAVE BEEN A PALM WINE TAPPER AND CHIEF PRIEST OF OUR LOCAL DEITY
When I visited Emeka Ugwuonye in prison few days ago, he was in his best - smiling and cracking jokes. He received me warmly and ushered me to a chair. When I tried to find out about the progress of his case, he cut in and assured me that the case is moving on well as he insisted that the case is a waste of his time because the prosecution has no evidence linking him to the said crime for which he is remanded.
"Why did you consider it a wise decision to put yourself through all these because of a woman whom you did not even know before her gruesome murder, you have not met her and she was not even a member of DPA yet you've sacrificed almost everything to seek justice for her?"
Ugwuonye looked up from the prison warder who was showing him time and looked briefly at the middle distance before he began to speak:
" Probably because of my early childhood experiences. I hated injustice with passion. I tend to like to stand with David, not Goliath in a fight but definitely not the other David (laughs). My system revolts against any form of abuse of power and injustice" he said.
Ugwuonye maintained that every turn in the trajectory of his life is divinely ordained:
"I am a man who has seen the extremes of life. We were so poor when I was growing up that it was so difficult for us to feed. When I passed the common Entrance Examination to enter secondary school, there was no money and my mum was crying. Indeed, my oldest uncle suggested that i should follow him to learn how to tap palm wine. I would have been a palm wine tapper by now and there would be no DPA or the struggle seeking justice for Cha Cha today (laughs)"
"The only thing that stopped this whole thing was that I happened to be the student with the highest score in exams and my teachers insisted that something had to be done"
"The EFCC once detained me unlawfully for six months yet I won my case against them. Also I have been privileged enough to attend the same school (Harvard) as the former President of America. I have faced the finest judges America has produced. I have been a guest to president of countries" he said.
" Through this case, i'm going to prove to my detractors and indeed to Nigerians that ..............."
I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder, as I turned, I saw my wife already seated for morning devotion. So this visit was in a dream? Oh! God.
Ifeanyi Calistus
Director Of Information
DPA.
Tough Times Never Last But Tough People Do
I have tremendous respect for the man who picks up an idea, stands by it through thick and thin till the idea transforms into reality. That's the definition of a real man. Lily livered individuals capitulate at the least pressure. A person who had no blood in their liver would have no courage and would thus be a coward.
Some of our members who were audacious and loud when DD was around and suddenly became quiet at the peak of the moment should be reminded of the immortal words of Robert H. Schuller " Tough Times Never Last, but Tough People do". Our founder Emeka Ugwuonye will not only come out of this but will come out gallantly.
This trial will also give us the opportunity to profile the real supporters of DPA and those phoney individuals who at best can be described as dissemblers praising DD to high heavens yet they are empty. We do not deserve such people. We are serious minded people with steely determination and conviction. We stand by our conviction even when we are threatened.
Emeka Ugwuonye will soon come out. Efforts are on top gear. One thing you should know is that Ugwuonye has a unique orientation. Something that scare many people does not scare him. He does not have plenty money but does not see that as a problem. To him, "Lack of money is a thing of mind set". In Nigeria as well as most African countries, lack of money is a serious impediment to accomplishing one's purpose but in Western World, it's a different case. You can achieve your purpose as long as you are clear on what you want.
It is this western concept that Ugwuonye wants to replicate here. No doubt, it's taking a huge toll on him. Here, everything is quantified in terms of money. But he never allowed any of these to discourage.
Our members that visited him last week sought his opinion on how he feels about the huge amount of money his trial is gulping and the fact that the resources for efficient defence of his case are scarce which may affect the flow of the trial:
Emeka laughed " Before I took this course, I understand clearly the price that comes with it. If a man of my social standing is standing similar trial in the U.S, he may not spend a Kobo from his pocket. The Legal support system in the U.S is effective. I am highly optimistic that I never considered the lack of money as something that will ever stop DPA from seeking justice for Cha-Cha"
" DPA is set to change the mindset and reorients our people. Nothing stops a man who is well determined. The means will come. I am proud of our members. They have responded in ways I never imagined. I tell you one thing, DPA is unstoppable". He declared.
Ifeanyi Calistus
Director Of Information
DPA
Emeka Ugwuonye is a Mysterious personality
From a philosophical dimension, it now appears that all these tribulations and challenges that the DPA Founder has faced in recent times were precisely divined as the testing process, the crucible that he needed to undergo in order to be prepared for the mission ahead of him and which he seeks to pursue through DPA. History shows that every man on an important mission faces a blistering trial period that almost breaks him. The Lord Jesus faced his trials too. That is the moment when every transformational leader must decide whether to pull back or to proceed into the path of danger.It may be too early to score the Founder of DPA, but we cannot fail to acknowledge the clear things we have seen. He is a tireless worker. His intellect, wisdom and logic are without question. He can sacrifice every comfort for his mission. He is resolute. He does not fear danger. He also does not fear confrontations. Yet, despite his steely qualities, he has extreme tenderness that is totally unbelievable. His demeanor and dispositions remind one of the contradictions of the crocodile. The same jaw that the crocodiles uses to crush bones is the most tender part of its body and that is where it keeps its young for safety, security and protection. Depending on where you stand in the scheme of things, Emeka Ugwuonye could be the most fierce and most ruthless opponent you can have or the cushioning teddy bear that you need for comfort. It just depends. As one of the DPA leaders put it; "He is a great man, loved by all. The enemies are just wasting their time, I tell you" Emeka Ugwuonye is not a government official. He is not a church leader and lays no claim to ecclesiastical or divine motivations. He is not a sports star. He is not a politician. He is not a musical or movie star. But certainly, as you can see, if you cared to watch, he possesses and displays that enigmatic charisma that belongs only to megastars. Yet, when you ask him, he seems not even aware of these things. When asked how he sees the people, his answer is usually short and it depends of which group he focuses on at the time. If he thinks of the children, he would simply reply: "They are adorable". If he thinks of those of us that work closely with him, he will say: "You guys are brave". When he focuses on members in general, he would simply say: "They are smart" or "They are kind". Hardly do you ever get him to give you his complete thought about the people. The most consistent thing he has says has been: "I really love 'em. They are my family". If asked how he deals with the challenges of hostile attacks by those who feel he should be stopped, he shocks you with his answers. There is no iota of bitterness in him toward the people you would expect him to hate. Very strangely, it is as if he believes that those people are helping him somehow. This is where Emeka becomes truly philosophical. He talks about the foil. One day, I asked him to explain what he means by "foil". He said: "The word comes from drama or fiction. A foil is a character who contrasts with another character (usually the hero) to highlight particular qualities of the hero. Satan is a foil character in the story of religion. You need to have Satan roaming the world and wrecking havoc in order to reveal the true character of God. For you to have a hero to put out the fire that is about to burn down the city, you first must have a devilish urchin or a villain who must have set the fire". He comes with this concept of necessary evil. He sees his opponents as necessary for his role. Ironically, he thinks that he should be grateful to them because without them setting the city on fire, he would not have had the opportunity to put out any fire. He thinks that any credit he gets for putting out the fire is owed partly to the evil person that set the fire on. That is the man. DPA is a revolution in the making. Emeka Ugwuonye is an unfinished story. The world should watch out for him. Ifeanyi Calistus Director of Information DPA
LAW AND CASES: Trial in Emeka Ugwuonye’s case opened with the testimony of David Aiyedogbon
The much awaited trial in the ten-count case, which the police filed against Emeka Ugwuonye, Founder of a leading Human Rights and Justice movement in Nigeria (DPA) finally got underway yesterday in Abuja at the High Court for the Federal Capital Territory sitting in Gudu, Abuja. The police prosecutor put into the witness box their star witness. He testified in chief about the publications on DPA Facebook handle which accused him of involvement in his wife's disappearance and presumed death. Everybody waited to hear David give testimony to show he had no hand in his fate. But surprisingly, he was more interested in trying to show that he was not caught. Much of the testimony was on what was published, and he could not give any testimony to show that what was published was false. Despite the hand signals that his aides in the persons of Daniel Obiora and one man in blue jacket were giving him from the gallery, Aiyedogbon failed to show which part of the publication was false. In the witness box, Aiyedogbon exuded the confidence of a man assured of the protection of the police. With two years of knowing that the police have been his friends and protector, he seemed to have ignored what mattered the most - did you play any role in what happened to Chacha? Forget what was published or by whom: is any of that true? The cross-examination of David will continue in two weeks. The court was ready to continue next week, but the police prosecutor did all he could to push for a further date obviously to prolong Emeka's detention pending trial, which is one thing they are expecting to achieve. The court repeatedly warned the prosecutor that no undue delay will be tolerated given that Emeka is in custody. On his own part, Emeka was totally undisturbed about being in custody. He put it thus: "No price is too much for finding what happened to Chacha. Some time in prison is not too much a price to pay for the truth of what happened. All I want is for the world to know that DPA will go all the way to seek justice for a woman that suffered so much marital abuse and ended up dead in the strangest circumstances. Chacha's right to life, which is the most important life was taken away. DPA will bear any cross, climb any mountain, swim across any ocean and trek across the Sahara desert to find justice and truth for her". Trial continues in two weeks time. Effort is underway to revisit the issues of bail and release for Emeka Ugwuonye pending trial.
LAW AND CASES: Trial in Emeka Ugwuonye’s case opened with the testimony of David Aiyedogbon
The much awaited trial in the ten-count case, which the police filed against Emeka Ugwuonye, Founder of a leading Human Rights and Justice movement in Nigeria (DPA) finally got underway yesterday in Abuja at the High Court for the Federal Capital Territory sitting in Gudu, Abuja. The police prosecutor put into the witness box their star witness. He testified in chief about the publications on DPA Facebook handle which accused him of involvement in his wife's disappearance and presumed death. Everybody waited to hear David give testimony to show he had no hand in his fate. But surprisingly, he was more interested in trying to show that he was not caught. Much of the testimony was on what was published, and he could not give any testimony to show that what was published was false. Despite the hand signals that his aides in the persons of Daniel Obiora and one man in blue jacket were giving him from the gallery, Aiyedogbon failed to show which part of the publication was false. In the witness box, Aiyedogbon exuded the confidence of a man assured of the protection of the police. With two years of knowing that the police have been his friends and protector, he seemed to have ignored what mattered the most - did you play any role in what happened to Chacha? Forget what was published or by whom: is any of that true? The cross-examination of David will continue in two weeks. The court was ready to continue next week, but the police prosecutor did all he could to push for a further date obviously to prolong Emeka's detention pending trial, which is one thing they are expecting to achieve. The court repeatedly warned the prosecutor that no undue delay will be tolerated given that Emeka is in custody. On his own part, Emeka was totally undisturbed about being in custody. He put it thus: "No price is too much for finding what happened to Chacha. Some time in prison is not too much a price to pay for the truth of what happened. All I want is for the world to know that DPA will go all the way to seek justice for a woman that suffered so much marital abuse and ended up dead in the strangest circumstances. Chacha's right to life, which is the most important life was taken away. DPA will bear any cross, climb any mountain, swim across any ocean and trek across the Sahara desert to find justice and truth for her". Trial continues in two weeks time. Effort is underway to revisit the issues of bail and release for Emeka Ugwuonye pending trial.
LAW CASES: Trial in Emeka Ugwuonye’s case opened with the testimony of David Aiyedogbon
The much awaited trial in the ten-count case, which the police filed against Emeka Ugwuonye, Founder of a leading Human Rights and Justice movement in Nigeria (DPA) finally got underway yesterday in Abuja at the High Court for the Federal Capital Territory sitting in Gudu, Abuja. The police prosecutor put into the witness box their star witness. He testified in chief about the publications on DPA Facebook handle which accused him of involvement in his wife's disappearance and presumed death. Everybody waited to hear David give testimony to show he had no hand in his fate. But surprisingly, he was more interested in trying to show that he was not caught. Much of the testimony was on what was published, and he could not give any testimony to show that what was published was false. Despite the hand signals that his aides in the persons of Daniel Obiora and one man in blue jacket were giving him from the gallery, Aiyedogbon failed to show which part of the publication was false. In the witness box, Aiyedogbon exuded the confidence of a man assured of the protection of the police. With two years of knowing that the police have been his friends and protector, he seemed to have ignored what mattered the most - did you play any role in what happened to Chacha? Forget what was published or by whom: is any of that true? The cross-examination of David will continue in two weeks. The court was ready to continue next week, but the police prosecutor did all he could to push for a further date obviously to prolong Emeka's detention pending trial, which is one thing they are expecting to achieve. The court repeatedly warned the prosecutor that no undue delay will be tolerated given that Emeka is in custody. On his own part, Emeka was totally undisturbed about being in custody. He put it thus: "No price is too much for finding what happened to Chacha. Some time in prison is not too much a price to pay for the truth of what happened. All I want is for the world to know that DPA will go all the way to seek justice for a woman that suffered so much marital abuse and ended up dead in the strangest circumstances. Chacha's right to life, which is the most important life was taken away. DPA will bear any cross, climb any mountain, swim across any ocean and trek across the Sahara desert to find justice and truth for her". Trial continues in two weeks time. Effort is underway to revisit the issues of bail and release for Emeka Ugwuonye pending trial.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Emeka Ugwuonye’s trial opened yesterday amidst some drama
As reported by an eye witness, Greg Ibeki, David Aiyedogbon, the estranged husband of the murdered woman, did not expect his encounter with the prison officials that took Emeka Ugwuonye to court. Aiyedogbon came to court prepared for a sneak propaganda game, only to be shocked by the reaction of very serious and well trained prison guards, known as the armed squad. Mr. Ibeki captured the incident in his report on social media as follows: "FUNNY DRAMA IN COURT TODAY. " "David Aiyedogbon's standard trick failed him today. As Emeka Ugwuonye arrived in court, David Aiyedogbon's driver, the same man that was used to torture Emmanuel Adogah, was hiding in one corner of the court entrance with a camera video recording Ugwuonye's arrival. But half a mile away, the warders spotted him because they were well prepared for that. David's driver was hoping to capture Emeka on his video, as he alighted from the prison vehicle. Emeka saw him too. One of the warders came out of the car and walked straight to the man and seized his phone. Like a movie! The warders nearly took the man to the prison because he compromised their security and the safety of the occupants of the prison vehicle. At the end of the hearing, the truth came out. David had to admit that it was indeed his phone that was seized. So, it was actually David that sent these little people to make videos of Emeka Ugwuonye and forward them to the rat groups. The officers questioned David. They asked him why he was videotaping them. He swore that it was not them he wanted to videotape, that it was Emeka Ugwuonye that he was videotaping. They asked him why he was videotaping Emeka Ugwuonye. He told them that if he could videotape the Senate President, he should be able to videotape Emeka Ugwuonye. They told him that Emeka was not yet the Senate President. He changed his story and told them he was going to forward the video to his group on Facebook. (That is the rat group). The warders insisted on taking his driver to the prison to explain why he made video of them. David begged and promised not to try it again. They made him delete every video and picture of Emeka Ugwuonye on his phone. Wow! He had more than 500 pictures of Emeka Ugwuonye on his phone. What an obsession. It took 30 minutes to delete all of them and a lot of begging for mercy and promises not to try it again. When Daniel Obiora saw what was going on, he ran away. He couldn't afford to bring his own phone out of his pocket. It was so funny. Seeing grown men begging like little kids was so funny. Court is a serious business. Stop going there to play pranks. "But there is something even more funny. On the first and second day in court, David paid over 20 bloggers and media houses to come to court to videotape the DPA Founder. Today, he could not pay any of them. He had to use his driver and his phone to video-record. Soon, even the driver will become too expensive."
NOTICE AND INFORMATION TO ALL MEMBERS: HOW TO CONTACT EMEKA UGWUONYE
For your information, Emeka Ugwuonye, the Founder of DPA, has no current access to telephone or computers. Therefore, you cannot reach him directly by Facebook or phone and he cannot reach you either. So, if you receive any message on Facebook appearing to come from him, please consider the following possibilities:
1. It is a fake account using his name and pictures, especially if the message is the first message on your chat log with him.
2. There is an urgent need and one of his trusted aides managing his Facebook account in his absence is trying yo follow up on your case or existing matter. You should have been aware that the DPA Founder has for more than 2 years now had people who assisted him in managing his Facebook account. He needed help to handle the thousands of messages and notifications he received every week. So, it should not be strange to you that you may receive a message from his account without him being aware of such message.
3. If you want to know exactly the person you are dealing with or chatting with, always feel free to ask for a video call or a voice call. If the person does not agree to either, then you should not trust the communication. But never panic or raise alarm. Allow 24 hours to resolve your doubt.
Having said this, there should be no concern about the strength and good health of DPA in the absence of the Founder. Our Admins are ready and willing to to take DPA to a level where the Founder will be proud off. As you know, our intervention activities are moving on normally. One of our staff counsel arrived Abuja two days ago and will be meeting with the Founder today. The staff is now posted to Abuja. He will be based in Abuja in order to fast forward DPA operations in Abuja.
NOTE: All communications from or to Emeka Ugwuonye's legitimate account are confidential and will be governed by standard rules of confidentiality regardless of the fact that you may be dealing with his aides. At the same time, we encourage you to keep your communications professional in form and content.
DPA’S RIGHT TO INVESTIGATE THE CASE OF CHACHA
We use this opportunity to answer the question some have naively or mischievously asked. That question is: "How can a private person conduct an investigation into a crime in Nigeria when Nigeria does not have licensed private investigators?"
With due respect, that is a dumb question. Everywhere in the world, including Nigeria, a lawyer is duty-bound to investigate every complaint he receives before accepting to play a role in the matter. That was exactly what Gani Fawehinmi did in Dela Giwa's case. Aka Bashorun and Falana did it in Jennifer Maduike's case. A lawyer must investigate every case that cones to him and follow such investigation where it leads.
Second, the case came to the DPA Founder while he was in the US.
Further, DPA started as a public interest offshoot of Eculaw Group in the US, in affiliation with Eculaw Associates Limited and Eculaw & Co. in Nigeria. DPA was registered in the US as an NGO and in Nigeria as a Foundation.
Finally, the Chacha case was investigated by DPA as a fundamental rights matter under the constitution (right to life) and according to Nigerian law, anybody (even non-lawyers can represent any victim of human rights violation). Also, DPA took on the case because it fell within the category of cases we classify as domestic violence.
So any suggestion that DPA or Emeka Ugwuonye had no right to investigate Chacha's case is plain ignorance or outright mischief. Our organization is interested in finding what happened to Chacha and we urge the police to bury the sentiments and join hands with DPA. If the police have nothing personal in this case, then let's find the truth together. DPA will even allow the police to claim the credit for the investigation we did. But let's find the truth.
WHY ARE THEY AFRAID OF EMEKA UGWUONYE AND DPA?
The police wanted to give the country a wish-wash of how a socialite was killed by her boyfriend whose sole motive was to steal her car. But by coincidence, DPA investigated the case and noticed that the official narrative did not add up.
DPA conducted a transparent, intelligent and world class investigation into Chacha's disappearance. The work of DPA made the police look like amateurs. Not only did that make the police envious, it created a hatred toward DPA by the police. They don't want DPA report on the case to come to light. They want to push forward their own theory. But their theory is deeply flawed and their investigation incomplete. For instance, the police could not answer the following 20 questions:
(1) Why was David out of the country the day Chacha went missing? He was in Turkey on a business trip. What business was that? Who did he meet in Turkey? Was there any prior trip on that business or any more trips after? Was he on a legitimate business trip or was it just the standard alibi of the prime suspect being out of town on the day of the crime?
(2) Who was the person that made the last phone call to Chacha? Why did he call Chacha? Since the police had the number and had successfully tracked other callers, why did they not track that last caller? If they did, what was the caller's business with Chacha?
(3) The police had knowledge of the last call Chacha made and the person she called. How come there is no explanation as to the purpose of that call or the person called?
(4) Few days before her disappearance, Chacha complained to her friends and even posted it on her social media that she was receiving threats from people and she mentioned a lady involved with David as likely source of the threats. How come the police never looked into that direction?
(5) Chacha was so scared about her safety that she hired someone to install a CCTV camera in her apartment. The CCTV was installed two days after her disappearance. The police knew this. How come they did not ascertain from the person that installed the CCTV the details of Chacha's fears and the threats she might have conveyed to the person?
(6) Few days after Chacha's friends gained entry to Chacha's house in the company of a police officer, they found newly made pot of soup that had gone bad. It suggests that Chacha did not plan to travel, but was rather expecting a visitor or visitors. Why didn't the police look into that? And who was likely the visitor?
(7) How come there was no forensic evidence about the state or condition of Chacha's home or room around the time of her disappearance?
(8) How come there was no statement from Chacha's landlady about what she saw or heard or otherwise observed around the house around that time?
(9) Why did the Gwarimpa police station which received the report initially not open a file on the case and if they did, why was that file not transmitted to the command when the case was assigned to the anti-kidnapping unit? And if such file was transmitted, where is the evidence of such initial stage of police investigation?
(10). Why did the Command initiate their investigation as kidnapping case instead of a homicide case, even though the Command got involved more than a week after the disappearance of Chacha? Why did they think she was kidnapped instead if being murdered?
(11) Why was it that the police never made any public announcement that such a woman was missing and call on the public to come with information or to help in finding her? (Instead it was Chacha's friends and DPA that were making efforts in that direction).
(12) Why did the police not examine the social media activities of Chacha even though her two Facebook accounts remained open for more than a month after her disappearance? Why didn't they try to see how the woman lived her life from social media activities?
(13) Why did the police continue to assume that Chacha was still alive more than a month after she went missing? As a result of this assumption, the police did not expand their search into a possible unidentified dead person. Instead, it was DPA that reasoned along that line of possibility and called for information on any unidentified death. In other words, why was the Command unaware of the unidentified dead body treated by Bwari police station?
(13) Where is the report of the Bwari police station on how they found the body and how they processed the case and what happened to the radio signals they sent to the Command? Why were those signals ignored by the Command, if they were ignored?
(14) What about the sanitation department that disposed of the body; where is their report?
(15) As of the last week of June, 2016, the command was finally aware of possible connection between the unidentified body and Chacha. What steps did the police take to confirm or rule out that it was Chacha? Why was there no DNA test? Or why was such test result denied for two years?
(16) Why did David Aiyedegbon obtain a death certificate for Chacha only after Jekwu's 'confession' two years after? It means either that there was no DNA test done or that such test was positive, but was ignored or that it was negative and they are now trying to overule the test result with a coerced confession.
(17) How come the police ignored the overwhelming evidence of motive based on the 6 cases Chacha filed against David? How come the police did not show interest in the dispute between Chacha and David over properties in London and elsewhere?
(18) How come the police did not realize that David and Chacha were discussing cash settlement of the case she reported to the ICPC and money was in issue at the time she disappeared?
(19) In several social media posts, Chacha pointed at David's lover as among the people after her life? Why did the police never obtain any statement from any such person?
(20) DPA began its investigation into Chacha's case on the 13th June 2016. And DPA started with social media evidence, paying close attention to Chacha's activities on Facebook. Within 3 days of announcing DPAs investigation, Chacha's two Facebook accounts were shut down. Why did the police not try to find who had access to Chacha's accounts and how such person obtained them?
There are at least 1000 similar questions that the police failed to ask for there to be an open transparent investigation into the Chacha's case. We hope that the police can change its present attitude of hostility towards DPA and reopen the investigation into this case. Our investigation was not meant to ridicule the police or to expose their skill limitations. Indeed, in more civilised jurisdictions, the Police work hand-in-hand with NGO's and private individuals wherever the circumstances require such collaboration, in order to exhume and enthrone the truth and not the victimisation of an organisation or person(s) who showed genuine interest, the ability and the willingness to help.
It is hoped that the new police authorities would look at the above questions critically and reopen investigations into the mysterious disappearance of Chacha and possibly come up with more mind-boggling facts than they have at the moment.
Notwithstanding the existence of bad eggs in the force, (which is common with other public and private institutions) there are still genuine and honest men and officers in the Nigerian Police Force who can gallantly rise to the occasion and deliver the best possible results.
Daniel Edeachi, Esquire,
Staff Counsel,
DPA.
13/02/2019