Nigeria Police Contracted To Frame Blogger, Ijele In Collusion With Zion Prayer Ministry - Sowore Claims

Mr. Omoyele Sowore, the Convener of #RevolutionNow, has alleged that the Nigeria Police Force is plotting to fabricate charges against the detained social media influencer, Mr. Chizorom Harrison Ofoegbu, also known as Ijele Speaks II, in connection with his accusations against Evangelist Ebuka Obi of Zion Prayer Movement Outreach.

SaharaReporters had reported that Ijele was detained by the police after he called the pastor a liar and tagged his miracles as deceits.

Ijele also urged the police to arrest him for turning his religious institution into a business enterprise.

The police in Abuja subsequently invited Ijele to their station for an alleged case of criminal intimidation, a threat to life, cyberstalking, and cyberbullying against the pastor.

He has since been detained.

Giving an update on the matter on his X handle, Sowore said the police had already secured a court order to detain Ijele for 14 days.

He accused the police of colluding with Zion Prayer Movement Outreach to frame Ijele.

Sowore wrote: “As per Chukwuma Ofoegbu @IjeleSpeaks2, the police at Zone 7 at the Police Headquarters in Abuja have a contract to frame him up; this is in collusion with a certain "ZION PRAYER MINISTRY MOVEMENT OUTREACH.

“They obtained a magistrate's consent to detain him for 14 days. Lawyers are working to vacate the illegal detention order and get him bailed as soon as possible.

“These are the new methods being actively used by the @PoliceNG authorities to suppress free speech and hunt down citizens engaging in public discourse.

“Brace Now before it is too late. #RevolutionNow.”

Court documents obtained by SaharaReporters on Tuesday revealed how the police, acting on the ‘orders’ of Evangelist Ebuka Obi’s Zion Prayer Ministry Movement Outreach, secured an order from the Chief Magistrate Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja to remand Ijele in prison for two weeks to move his case to a High Court in Abuja.

The court documents showed that the Magistrate Court granted the police application to remand Ijele in a motion ex parte marked suit no: ME/65/2024 and filed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP).

The IGP in the application prayed the court for “An Order remanding the Defendant/Respondent for 14 days in the Correctional Center Keffi to enable conclusion of investigation and arraignment at the High Court.

“And for such further or other order(s) as this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstance.”

The police said that it had filed charges against Ijele at the Federal High Court in Abuja and was waiting for the case to be assigned to a particular court and for him to be arraigned, adding that releasing Ijele would jeopardise the prosecution.

The police therefore asked the Magistrate Court to remand him in prison custody for two weeks.