Police Invite Lawyer for Questioning over Alleged Defaming of Governor

A former secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Owerri branch, Chinedu Agu, said the police in Imo State, Nigeria’s South-east, have invited him for allegedly defaming Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State.

Mr Agu, a lawyer, posted the police invitation letter on his Facebook page on Friday, 9 September.

In the letter addressed to him, the office of the X-Squad Unit of the police in Imo said they were inviting him over an alleged criminal defamation of character and conduct likely to cause breach of peace.

The police said they were investigating the alleged defamation.

The letter added that the meeting with Mr Agu will be held on Wednesday, 17 September, in the X-Squad office at the police headquarters, Owerri.

However, the police invitation did not disclose who the lawyer allegedly defamed.

‘Imo govt behind police invitation’

Reacting to the police letter, Mr Agu said in a Facebook post that the invitation stemmed from a petition allegedly lodged by the Imo State Ministry of Information against him.

The lawyer, who said he would honour the police invitation, lamented that the state has taken “a thousand steps backwards into an era reminiscent of military rule, where freedom of expression is stifled, voices of truth are muffled, and mouths demanding good governance are deliberately gagged”.

“As a citizen and advocate for good governance and human rights, I remain unwavering in my commitment to the constitutional values of democracy, transparency, and accountability,” he said.

My crimes

In another Facebook post, Mr Agu said the Imo State Government was “haunting” him for speaking out on “vital issues” in the state.

He said that since March 2025, he has consistently and lawfully exercised his constitutional right to free expression in calling upon the Imo governor to appoint the most qualified person as acting chief judge of the state, following the dismissal of the former substantive chief judge in November 2024.

In 2024, the National Judicial Council recommended the duo of the Chief Judge of Imo State, T. E. Chukwuemeka Chikeka, and the Grand Kadi of Yobe State, Babagana Mahdi, for compulsory retirement over falsification of their ages.

Mr Agu said he pursued this advocacy through open letters and by instituting suits before the High Court of Imo State.

He said that since March 2025, he has consistently and lawfully exercised his constitutional right to free expression in calling upon the Imo governor to appoint the most qualified person as acting chief judge of the state, following the dismissal of the former substantive chief judge in November 2024.

In 2024, the National Judicial Council recommended the duo of the Chief Judge of Imo State, T. E. Chukwuemeka Chikeka, and the Grand Kadi of Yobe State, Babagana Mahdi, for compulsory retirement over falsification of their ages.

Mr Agu said he pursued this advocacy through open letters and by instituting suits before the High Court of Imo State.

More criticisms

“On 26th August 2025, when it was announced that the Governor of Imo State would host a Dinner in Enugu for Imo lawyers attending the Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference, I authored a piece titled, ‘How Can We Feast While the House of Justice Burns: A Response to Imo State Government’s Invitation to Imo Lawyers for a Welcome Dinner in Enugu’, published on 27th August.

“In that article, I criticised the propriety of hosting such an event in Enugu while Imo State remained without an Acting Chief Judge, an Attorney-General, vacation courts, or even a functional Ministry of Lands capable of conducting a simple search.”

Mr Agu said he published another article on 29 August, “Tears from Enugu: A Lawyer’s Heartbreaking Diary from a State that Works to a State in Ruins,” juxtaposing his experiences in Enugu with the “decay in Imo”.

“The Honourable Commissioner for Information, Mr Declan Emelumba, issued a rejoinder in which he described my piece as ‘Satanic Verses’ and told all manner of lies against me. I have also been a subject of abuse by many media handlers of the government since then.