A senior lecturer with the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Professor Chijioke Uwasomba, has petitioned the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja against one Colonel Abubakar Abdulkadir Alkali over alleged intimidation and harassment following a contractual business he had with the University Press.
Uwasomba, a professor of English and Literary Studies, in the petition sent through the Public Interest Lawyers League (PILL), dated August 2, 2023, and signed by its President, Abdul Mahmud, Esq, appealed to Lt. Gen. Lagbaja for his intervention.
He asked the army chief to save him from harassment and intimidation over what he knows nothing about.
PILL in the petition titled: "Intimidation and Harassment of Professor Chijioke Uwasomba by Colonel Abubakar Abdulkadir Alkali," described itself as a group of public interest lawyers, following Uwasomba's instruction to write the petition to him.
Narrating the incident, the lawyers explained that on May 3, 2023, a certain officer with the Special Investigation Bureau of the Nigerian Army Military Police, Yar'Adua Barracks, Asokoro, Abuja, called Prof. Uwasomba and requested him to reach out to the Obafemi Awolowo University Press and
facilitate the printing of his book as he had done for an Abuja-based lawyer who gave his number to the aforementioned military officer.
On the strength of his request and plea, the lecturer accepted to facilitate the printing of the book "and Colonel Alkali subsequently sent the manuscript of the book and the cost of N1.2 million to our client (Prof. Uwasomba)".
According to the petition, the military officer "forwarded the said manuscript and the said sum to the University Press," as he had agreed with the university press.
PILL, however, stated that trouble started after the book was printed and Colonel Alkali refused to collect the book over "uninformed information" on ISBN (International Standard Book Number), even after the books had been taken to him in Abuja.
ISBN is a 13-digit number that uniquely identifies books and book-like products published internationally.
The petition partly reads: "...our client communicated this fact to Colonel Alkali who requested that the five hundred copies of the books be transported to him in Abuja at his cost; the sum being N100,000.00 only.
"Our client undertook the transportation of copies of the book on 16th June 2023 and they arrived at the haulage operator's park at Jabi, Abuja, the next day, 17th June 2023.
"No sooner than the said copies of the books arrived in Abuja, Colonel Alkali called our client and rejected them, claiming that 'somebody told him that if he Googled his name and it didn't appear on the search engine, he should know that the ISBN is fake'.
"In spite of the fact that our client explained how search engines work, he persisted with the erroneous information elicited from an unknown person. For almost two weeks, he refused to collect the said copies of the books before they were returned to the Obafemi Awolowo University Press for safe keep; and at a huge cost to our client."
PILL stated that since the refusal of Colonel Alkali to collect the copies of the books, he had persisted in harassing their client with phone calls and threats, demanding he refund of N1.2 million he paid to University Press or he would punish him.
"As if his phone threats were not enough, he instigated the FCT Police Command to issue an invitation to our client to appear before it, over what is clearly a commercial transaction between him and the Obafemi Awolowo University Press for the printing of his book, which our client facilitated at his request.
"Further to the foregoing, therefore, we humbly request that you use your good offices
and compel Colonel Alkali to desist from further harassment and intimidation of our client over a commercial transaction for the printing of his book that he entered with the University Press.
"If he feels compelled by the fact that the University Press is in breach of the oral agreement for the printing of his book, which is distinct from publication, he should feel free to institute a civil action against the University Press."