Despite multiple court orders granting him bail — orders that remain unexecuted —Emeh continues to languish in prison under increasingly dangerous conditions.
Global concern is mounting over the safety of detained whistleblower, Nnamdi Daniel Emeh, following alarming revelations that a weapon was smuggled into Awka Correctional Centre with alleged instructions to trigger a staged fight and assassinate him.
Despite multiple court orders granting him bail — orders that remain unexecuted —Emeh continues to languish in prison under increasingly dangerous conditions.
His situation raised questions about obstruction of justice, abuse of state power, and the safety of whistleblowers in Nigeria.
Sources told SaharaReporters that a weapon was recently smuggled into the prison, allegedly as part of a plot to stage a fight and assassinate the 27-year-old whistle-blower
The allegation was also confirmed by his father, Professor John Emeh, who said the family received credible intelligence that the weapon was brought in with explicit instructions: provoke a brawl, eliminate Nnamdi, and disguise the killing as a prison altercation.
Following the alarming development, Blueprint for Free Speech and 20 international civil society organisations issued an open letter demanding Nnamdi’s immediate release in compliance with court orders, an independent investigation into the threats, and guarantees of his safety both in custody and when freed.
The petition — addressed to the heads of Nigeria’s justice, policing, corrections, foreign affairs, human rights, and interior ministries — urged Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun to make public the findings of police investigations that have remained shrouded in secrecy for nearly two years.
The letter also went to: Sylvester Ndici Nwakuche, Controller-General, Nigerian Correctional Service, Chief Lateef Fagbemi, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Tony Ojukwu, Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior.
However, on 20 November 2025, the National Human Rights Commission acknowledged receipt of the complaint and registered it under case number C/2025/CPR/2689/HQ, forwarding it to its Anambra office for preliminary investigation.
Yet, despite the international outcry, Nnamdi remains behind bars, still awaiting the execution of a bail order first granted over 18 months ago.
Before his arrest, Nnamdi served as an IT tracking specialist with the Anambra State Police Command during his National Youth Service in 2022.
He assisted efforts to track several high-profile suspects and was widely seen as a brilliant, resourceful young officer.
Everything changed in early 2023, when the anonymous blog Gistlover published explosive allegations of extrajudicial killings, organ harvesting, kidnappings, and extortion by officers of the Anambra Rapid Response Squad (RRS) — the same unit Nnamdi worked with.
The blog named senior officers, including CSP Patrick Agbazue and Inspector Harrison Akama, as alleged perpetrators.
Multiple sources later suggested that Nnamdi had supplied the evidence behind the leaks — instantly making him a target.
On 17 February 2023, the Inspector-General of Police, then Usman Alkali Baba, ordered an investigation panel. Its findings were never released.
Three days later, an arrest warrant surfaced. Warned that his life was in danger, Nnamdi fled to Benin Republic, where he was arrested on 3 March 2023 following an Interpol Red Notice.
However, he was extradited to Nigeria shortly after.
According to Red Notice Monitor, all charges filed against him — including fraud, money laundering, impersonation, firearm possession, and defamation — align with those frequently used by repressive states to silence whistle-blowers.
Nnamdi’s ordeal in the Nigerian legal system reads like a case study on systemic dysfunction.
He was initially detained at the FCID in Abuja before being moved to CID Awka.
SaharaReporters gathered that public outrage halted an alleged plot to assassinate him during the transfer — forcing authorities to produce him in court.
On 17 May 2023, Justice Riman of the Federal High Court in Awka granted him bail pending trial.
Meanwhile, all bail conditions were fulfilled except one: surrendering his passport, which was being withheld by the police. A court order on 27 May 2023 compelled the police to release the passport, which they eventually did on 6 July 2023.
SaharaReporters learnt that officials at the Federal High Court in Awka allegedly obstructed his actual release.
When Justice Riman died months later, the case was reassigned to Justice SM Shuaibu, who on 15 May 2024 issued a formal release warrant. Instead of freeing Nnamdi, the police rushed to court the next day with an ex-parte motion to halt execution of the bail order.
However, Justice Shuaibu dismissed the motion on 9 July 2024. Yet the prison still did not release him.
Soon after, Justice Shuaibu proceeded on long leave and was transferred out of the state.
His replacement, Justice Evelyn Anyadike, restarted the case de novo on 15 November 2024, only for lawyers to discover that critical documents — including Nnamdi’s release warrant — had mysteriously vanished from his court file.
In January 2025, Justice Anyadike ruled that new sureties must be provided to perfect bail, Objections by Emeh's legal representative were overruled.
The trial resumed on 19 March 2025, when two state witnesses were called to appear and cross examined. Thereafter the case was adjourned to 17, June 2025. On 17, June 2025 the trial was set to resume but was adjourned again.
Meanwhile, the trial also resumed on 23 September 2025. One state witness was called to appear and cross examined. Thereafter the case was adjourned to 9 December.
Source told SaharaReporters that in late October 2025 information was received that Nnamdi Emeh's life was in danger after a weapon was smuggled into Awka Correctional Centre, the prison where he is currently being detained.
"According to Nnamdi's father, Professor John Emeh, the weapon was smuggled into the prison with instructions to provoke a fight and assassinate Nnamdi during the altercation.
"Subsequent to this, Blueprint for Free Speech and twenty other NGOs from around the world issued an open letter calling for Emch's immediate release in accordance with court orders, an investigation into the threats and for the authorities to ensure his safety while in custody and upon his release, and for the Inspector General of Police of Police to publicy release the findings of its investigation," one of the source said.
However, while Nnamdi remains incarcerated, his courage is being recognised beyond Nigeria’s borders. On 3 December 2025, he was named one of the three African laureates of the Eighth Blueprint Whistleblowing Prize, awarded to individuals who expose wrongdoing at great personal risk.
Human-rights groups warn that the treatment of Nnamdi reflects a disturbing pattern in Nigeria: whistle-blowers who expose powerful networks face retaliation, fabricated charges, and prolonged incarceration.