Njemanze, according to human rights lawyer Professor Chidi Odinkalu, is also the Deputy Chief Registrar of the High Court of Imo State.
The Imo State Police Command on Thursday arraigned Barrister Chinedu Agu, former secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Owerri branch, before a Magistrate’s Court in Owerri, the state capital.
WATCH VIDEO: BREAKING: Imo Police Arraign Former NBA Secretary For Defamation, Incitement Over Facebook Posts Critical Of Uzodinma Govt! Pic.twitter.com/gqZntOuPVx | Pic.twitter.com/gqZntOuPVx | Pic.twitter.com/gqZntOuPVx. — Bunady (@bunadyofficial) September 22, 2025
Agu, who is being accused of criminal defamation and incitement through Facebook posts critical of Governor Hope Uzodinma’s administration and the police in the state, was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Obinna Njemanze.
Njemanze, according to human rights lawyer Professor Chidi Odinkalu, is also the Deputy Chief Registrar of the High Court of Imo State.
Odinkalu, who confirmed Agu’s arraignment said the charges were read to Agu but he pleaded not guilty.
Following his plea, the police team, led by Mr. F. O. Itua, the Officer-in-Charge of the police Legal/Prosecution Unit, applied for Agu’s remand to prison.
“Arguments are ongoing on that application,” Odinkalu said in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
Odinkalu also noted that Agu’s legal team, comprising over 30 lawyers, is led by Miletus Onukoagu Nlemadim, a former Attorney-General of Imo State.
SaharaReporters reported on Wednesday that Odinkalu exposed what he described as “trumped-up” charges brought against Agu by the Imo State government under Governor Uzodinma and the state police command.
In the charge sheet, signed by Barrister F.O. Itua, Officer-in-Charge of Legal/Prosecution Unit at the Imo State Police Command Headquarters, Agu is accused of publishing Facebook posts critical of Governor Uzodinma’s administration and the police.
Count one stated, “That you, Chinedu Agu ‘m’, on the 30th day of August, 2025 and 31st day of August, 2025, at Onitsha Road, Owerri in the Owerri Magisterial District, did use your official Facebook page to send out message posts such as (1) ‘the courts are closed and justice has been kidnapped not by bandits in the bush, but by bandit in government’, (2) ‘this is not government, this is tyranny trapped in sinking bureaucracy’ which you know such messages to be false but posted them for the purpose of inciting members of the public especially among individuals who holds divergent view on the personality of the governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma and his cabinet in government with a view to cause a breakdown of law and order in the State and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Amendment Act, 2024.”
Count two read, “That you, Chinedu Agu ‘m’, on the same dates and place in the aforesaid Magisterial District, did use your official Facebook page to send out message posts such as; (1) ‘until the leadership charges how it sees governance, nothing will change in this abandoned property called Imo State’, (2) ‘Enugu is working, Imo is rotting’ which you know such messages to be false but posted it for the purpose of inciting the good people of Imo State to revolt against the governor of Imo State, His Excellency, Senator Hope Uzodinma and members of his cabinet and with a view cause breakdown of law and order in Imo State and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Amendment Act, 2024.”
Count three stated, “That you, Chinedu Agu ‘m’, on the same dates and place in the aforesaid Magisterial District, did use your official Facebook page to send out message post that ‘the Tiger Base Unit of the Nigeria Police Force are Specialist in the Act of Unchecked, barbaric, brutish, savagery and callous human right abuse now assumed the roles of the accuser, judge and Executioner’ which you know such message to be false but posted it for the purpose of inciting members of the public against the Nigeria Police Force, thereby causing a breakdown of Law and order in the State and to revolt against the officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force especially those serving in Imo State and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Amendment Act, 2024.”
The fourth count accused Agu of breaching public peace.
The charge alleged that on the specified date and location, Chinedu Agu used his Facebook page to publish defamatory content against the Imo State government and the Nigeria Police Force, an act considered likely to cause a breach of the peace and punishable under Section 249(d) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act, 2024.
SaharaReporters on September 17, 2025, reported that the NBA strongly condemned the invitation of Agu by the Imo State Police Command over allegations of “criminal defamation” and “conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace.”
The Association described the development as an abuse of police powers aimed at silencing citizens and intimidating legal practitioners who exercise their constitutional rights.
The legal body emphasized that criticism of government policies, institutions, or officials does not constitute a crime, noting that the continued reliance on criminal defamation charges is a “dangerous relic of authoritarianism” that undermines democracy.
The NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, warned that the Association would take every lawful step, both nationally and internationally, to resist attempts to criminalise free speech or intimidate its members.
Also, the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) condemned police prosecution of Agu, describing it as a clampdown on free expression in Imo State.
RULAAC emphasized that defamation, even if proven, is a civil matter and not a criminal offence. It accused the government of weaponising the police to silence dissent.
WATCH VIDEO: BREAKING: Imo Police Arraign Former NBA Secretary For Defamation, Incitement Over Facebook Posts Critical Of Uzodinma Govt! Pic.twitter.com/gqZntOuPVx | Pic.twitter.com/gqZntOuPVx | Pic.twitter.com/gqZntOuPVx. — Bunady (@bunadyofficial) September 22, 2025