Police arrest APGA factional chairman over ‘threat to life’ of prosecutor

Edozie Njoku, factional chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), was arrested at a federal capital territory high court in Bwari by officers of the Nigeria Police Force.

Njoku was arrested on Monday shortly after proceedings in a suit where he is standing trial on charges bordering on forgery.

At the court session, Ezekiel Rinamsomte, prosecution counsel, told the court that the party chieftain had verbally threatened him prior to the commencement of the proceedings.

Rinamsomte said the complaint had already been lodged at the Bwari divisional police station.

He said he already exchanged pleasantries with the defendant when they met in court but was surprised when Njoku came back to issue threats.

“The next thing this man started telling me was that he was going to send calamities upon calamities upon my family; that members of my family will be dying and that he would deal with me,” the lawyer said.

“I asked him what have I done, he said he was a very dangerous man. He said he was the reason why the director of litigation of the supreme court, Mr Dikko, was removed and dismissed.

“That he was going to shake the  Nigerian police force, that he was the reason why the daughter of (Onyechi) Ikpeazu, SAN, died, and that he was going to deal with everybody in this case.”

When asked by Mohammed Madugu, the presiding judge, to explain what transpired, Njoku, who was standing in the dock with his co-defendant, denied the allegations that he threatened the prosecutor.

“My lord, I only said that anybody in this case who lied against me to go to jail or send anyone to prison by telling lie, calamity will befall that person,” he said.

Njoku said he neither mentioned anything about the late Ikpeazu’s daughter nor made any such comments attributed to him by the prosecutor.

Speaking with journalists after the court session, Njoku said: “The prosecutor made a terrible claim against me and he has already brought policemen to arrest me. That is their option B. It looks as if their initial case against me is dead.”

Njoku was arrested and taken to the police station.

However, he was released after the prosecution counsel withdrew the case.

Earlier at the commencement of the trial, the prosecutor sought to withdraw the amended charge filed against Njoku and his co-defendant, Chukwuemeka Nwoga.

Panam Ntui, defence counsel did not oppose the application.

Consequently, the judge granted the application and fixed April 27 for the continuation of the trial.

LEADERSHIP CRISIS

In October 2021, the supreme court affirmed an appeal court judgment recognising Victor Oye as the national chairman of the party.

Following protests that trailed the judgment, the supreme court said Njoku was not a party to the judgment.

In March 2023, a five-man panel of the apex court ruled that in the 2021 judgement, Njoku’s name was erroneously written as Oye.

Justice Mohammed Lawal, who read the judgement said the court has the power to review its verdict and correct such “accidental slip or error” when it is brought to the court’s attention.

In reviewing the 2021 judgement, the court, therefore, expunged the part where Oye’s name was written as the national chairman of the party.

However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is yet to recognise Njoku as APGA national chairman.