A former governorship candidate of the Action Alliance (AA), Chief Uche Nwosu, has alleged that his arrest on Sunday at St Peters Anglican Church, Eziama Obaire in Nkwere Local Government Area of Imo State, during the outing service of his late mother, Jemaimah Nwosu, was intended to kill him.

In his first official reaction to the arrest, Nwosu, yesterday, said it took the divine intervention of God and the professionalism of the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, to save his life.

The former governorship candidate, who is the son-in-law to former Governor Rochas Okorocha, however, accused the state government of being behind his arrest and subsequent abduction to Abuja.

Nwosu claimed that the IG was unaware of his being taken to Abuja by the security operatives, adding that no invitation was also extended to him prior to the arrest.

He, therefore, thanked the Inspector General of Police for showing professionalism, devoid of sentiments, saying,

I commend him for that.

Continuing, he said,

I want to thank God, because I don’t think their intention was to arrest me but to eliminate me, because if their intention was to arrest me, I know the normal police procedure, not to bring me to the police command and put up a report that I’ve been arrested and then take me to Abuja, it is not the duty of police attached to the governor to arrest but that of the commissioner of police in the state.

“Mine was a calculated attempt to eliminate me, but I thank God He spared my life. I want to thank the media, I don’t think it was their intention to fly me to Abuja with the private jet that came to Enugu, because it came one hour after we arrived, their intention was never to take me to Abuja, because there was never an invitation, they said they send me invitation three times and I refused to come.

I’m a law-abiding citizen. All my life, as a Chief of staff to the Government House, I have never been involved in criminality. I have never sponsored any criminal, so, when they said I was selling guns to militants, I was surprised as a former commissioner for lands, deputy chief of staff to be dragged on the floor and treated like a common criminal.

When we got to Abuja, they took me straight to the Tactical Squad Office, where the IGP intervened. I was interviewed. From what I observed, the IGP was not properly briefed. All these drama was the government house; all the security people I saw were those attached to the governor of Imo State. They came with a military truck that was part of the governor’s convoy; they came with a Ford jeep that was also part of his convoy.

My pictures they took was sent to social media. Who authorised them to send the pictures? The IGP, a professional policeman that handled this matter, did not authorise them to send my pictures to social media, so, I’m pleading to the IGP to find out who sent out my picture to the social media, to find out who paid for the private jet that came to pick me at the Enugu airport and to find out the men, who did not respect God and have to desecrate the alter of God and shot. It’s a sacrilege in the house of God. I appeal to the IGP not to let this incident stop here; he should investigate further.

When I got to the police tactical office, I was told the same man whose video was viral said I was giving them money to buy arm, and I asked them if that was why you people should humiliate me? You should have invited me to know if it’s true or not.

I’ve not even touched trigger, let alone supply arms. I’ve been a law abiding citizen, these things were all cooked up in government house to malign my image and humiliate me. I’ve not come out of the trauma why I should be humiliated in such manner inside the church in front of all the visitors I invited?

When contacted, Commissioner for Information and strategy, Declan Emelumba, denied government’s involvement in the arrest as alleged by Nwosu.

He said:

There is no truth whatsoever in that allegation as it is a figment of his imagination. It is natural for a drowning man, to clutch on any available straw to save himself. But spurious and baseless allegations are not the kind of straw that can save a drowning man.

It is quite curious that in all of Imo State, it was only Uche Nwosu that the police targeted to arrest in such a manner for no just reason? Only time will tell. It should be emphasised that the government of Senator Hope Uzodinma does not believe in tyranny or lawless behaviour as was in the case when Uche Nwosu was the defacto deputy governor of the state.

This government believes in rule of law and due process and would not attempt to usurp the Constitutional responsibility of the security agencies. However, we believe that in the fullness of time, Imo people and indeed Nigerians will be apprised by the relevant agencies, who the bandits in the state are and the real reason for the arrest of Uche Nwosu,

he said.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.