Ogbonna was arrested for allegedly publishing an article on his Facebook page claiming that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State visited a shrine outside Nigeria where he was said to have sworn to an oath of allegiance and secrecy to the former governor of the state, Senator T.A Orji, for being instrumental to his emergence in office.
Former 2nd Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Monday Ubani, has expressed disappointment at the continued and illegal detention of Mr Emperor Ogbonna, a legal practitioner, by the Department of State Services for nearly a month despite being released on bail by the Federal High Court in Umuahia.
Ogbonna was arrested for allegedly publishing an article on his Facebook page claiming that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State visited a shrine outside Nigeria where he was said to have sworn to an oath of allegiance and secrecy to the former governor of the state, Senator T.A Orji, for being instrumental to his emergence in office.
The publication led to Ogbonna’s arrest and prosecution before a magistrate court that had no jurisdiction all in a bid by the state government to perpetually keep him in the correctional centre.
Reacting to the development, Ubani posits that it was clearly a flagrant and unmitigated violation of the fundamental human rights of Ogbonna as stipulated by the 1999 constitution as amended.
Ubani further contended that the alleged offence is a bailable for which this long detention was condemned in strongest terms.
He said, “That the DSS is permitted by the laws of the land to charge Mr Emperor Ogbonna to a court of competent jurisdiction for any offence he is alleged to have committed at any place in Nigeria. However, his continuous detention without any charge or arraignment is unlawful, unconstitutional and clearly satanic.”