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January 25, 2025
In December 2024, Ejike was suspended along with Inspector Ekende Edwin, Inspector Esther Okafor, and Sergeant Talabi Kayode, all attached to the Zone 7 Headquarters in Abuja.
DSP Peter Ejike, a lawyer in charge of Zone 7 Legal Section, who connived with Prophet Ebuka Obi of Zion Prayer Movement Outreach to prosecute a blogger and content creator, Mr Chizorom Harrison Ofoegbu, Ijele Speaks, has been dismissed for fraud.
In December 2024, Ejike was suspended along with Inspector Ekende Edwin, Inspector Esther Okafor, and Sergeant Talabi Kayode, all attached to the Zone 7 Headquarters in Abuja.
Sources told SaharaReporters on Saturday that Ejike and the other police officers have been dismissed.
“The police officer Peter Ejike who connived with Prophet Ebuka Obi to falsely prosecute Ijele Speaks has been dismissed from the police force for another fraud,” one of the sources said.
WATCH: @PoliceNG Sack Officer Peter Ejike, Who Colluded With Zion Ministry’s Ebuka Obi To Prosecute Blogger ‘Ijele Speaks’, For Fraud pic.twitter.com/ghfTne84U3
— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) January 25, 2025
But when SaharaReporters contacted for comment, Ikechukwu Ani, PSC spokesperson, said he couldn’t confirm at that time, saying our correspondent should call him again on Monday.
Ani, however, explained that "PSC handles promotional, disciplinary and employment from Inspectors up. Initially, the power was from the level of constable up but we delegated the power to discipline these other ones (junior officers) to the Inspector General of Police”.
Efforts to reach the spokesperson for the police force, Muyiwa Adejobi, failed as he did not answer his calls or reply to a message sent to him.
In December 2024, the police detailed how the police officers corruptly obtained N43,160,000 from a cargo worker at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja earlier that year.
A statement by the NPF Public Relations Officer, ACP Muyiwa Ogunjobi on Wednesday, said the incident occurred at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on August 26, 2023.
The officers were said to have unlawfully arrested Andrew Ejah, an employee of FATFAD Cargo Nigeria Limited, who was conveying the cash sum of ₦74,950,000 on behalf of his clients.
The policemen acted without authorisation.
Adejobi said the officers detained Mr. Ejah at the Zone 7 Headquarters, Abuja, and deliberately misrepresented the recovered amount as N31,790,000, pocketing a total of ₦43,160,000.
Adejobi asserted that the officers had been suspended after being found culpable of serious misconduct, tampering with exhibits, abuse of office, corrupt practice, illegal duty, and acts unbecoming of a police officer.
The statement reads in part, "The incident in question, which occurred at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on August 26, 2023, has been thoroughly investigated. The officers involved - DSP Peter Ejike (a lawyer in charge of Zone 7 Legal Section), Inspector Ekende Edwin, Inspector Esther Okafor, and Sergeant Talabi Kayode, all attached to the Zone 7 Headquarters - were found culpable and sanctioned appropriately.
"These officers, led by Inspector Esther Okafor on the instruction of DSP Peter Ejike, unlawfully arrested Andrew Ejah, an employee of FATFAD Cargo Nigeria Limited, who was conveying the cash sum of N74,950,000 on behalf of clients. Acting without authorization, they detained Mr. Ejah at the Zone 7 Headquarters, Abuja, and deliberately misrepresented the recovered amount as N31,790,000. The officers further demanded a percentage of the funds to suppress the case.
"Upon being contacted by the alleged owners of the money, the officers claimed that the sum they had recovered from the arrested suspect was N31,790,000, and requested a percentage of the money to jeopardise investigation and suppress the case.
"Outraged by their actions, the money owners petitioned the Force Headquarters, Abuja and the matter was directed to the IGP Monitoring Unit for Investigation. During the process, the cash sum of N31,790,000 was recovered from the officers, who claimed that it was the total money recovered from Andrew Ejah during his arrest.
"After intense investigations and a series of trial before duly constituted disciplinary panels, it was discovered that the officers took photographs of the suspect and the sacks of monies at the point of arrest but claimed the phone they used was damaged and subsequently lost, in an attempt to conceal their misconduct.
"However, forensic intelligence showed that this group of officers conspired and stole part of the money, amounting to N43,160,000, and tasked one of them to move the cash out of the FCT for hiding pending when the heat blows over. They thereafter resorted to several tricks and gimmicks in order to cover their tracks. One of which is the spread of this false narrative and misinformation to several online blogs and newspaper platforms.
"These officers have been suspended, being found culpable of serious misconduct, tampering with exhibits, abuse of office, corrupt practice, illegal duty, and acts unbecoming of a police officer. The movement of such an amount of money by the alleged cargo company could have been investigated and handled professionally by the police, but the officers were carried away by greed and therefore acted criminally and unprofessionally.”
Ijele Speaks was arrested by the police after he accused Ebuka Obi, the lead founder of Zion Prayer Movement Outreach, of performing fake miracles.
In September 2024, SaharaReporters reported that a human rights advocate, Prince Okechukwu Emezu, had written to the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, over what he described as the unlawful and life-threatening detention of Ijele Speaks.
Emezu in the letter dated September 11, 2024, lamented Officer’s Ejike’s role in his client’s predicament, adding that Ijele Speaks’ situation had become a critical one that urgently required the IGP’s intervention to prevent a potential tragedy.
He lamented the detention of Ijele Speaks following a petition filed by Evangelist Ebuka Obi, accusing the blogger of criminal intimidation, threat to life, cyberstalking, and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace.
Emezu, in the letter said, “On May 8, 2024, Mr. Ofoegbu was illegally transferred to Lagos by Police Officer Ejike Peter from Abia State.
“Officer Peter, clearly acting out of personal vendetta, cited fraudulent charges from IPOB members and transferred Mr. Ofoegbu to Justice Aluko at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos.
“While in Lagos, Mr. Ofoegbu was granted bail, but despite meeting the bail conditions on several occasions, the authorities refused to release him.
“This deliberate refusal was a delay tactic to keep him detained, in preparation for his eventual transfer to Awka, Anambra State—another dangerous stronghold of IPOB.”
The lawyer’s said his client’s “health had deteriorated significantly”.
“It is in Ikoyi Prison, where prison staff sympathetic to IPOB and influenced by Mr. Obi’s Zion Ministries, systematically poisoned Mr. Ofoegbu.
“Within days, this led to the catastrophic failure of both of his kidneys. Sir, this was not a coincidence, but a deliberate act designed to cripple and silence him.
“He suffered multiple cardiac arrests and only narrowly survived, thanks to the intervention of a compassionate prison officer who alerted his family.
“It was after this intervention, vis-a-viz, that Chukwuka has alerted his family that the prison authority dubiously and hurriedly sent him to a hospital, located in Lagos where he would be diagnosed of kidney failure,” he said.