Saturday, September 12, 2026 -A social critic, Justice Ozobi, has been arrested after accusing the Ebonyi State Commissioner of Police of collecting N4.2 million in bribes.
The police spokesperson in Ebonyi State, Joshua Ukandu,
announced the arrest in a statement on Friday.
Ozobi, who is based in Anambra State, made the allegation in
a Facebook post on August 31. He claimed that the commissioner collected
N700,000 from each of six families, amounting to N4.2 million, to secure the
release of their sons who had been arrested.
According to him, the suspects were arrested over a land
dispute involving some villagers and Sunday Oketa, the traditional ruler of
Oroko Onuoha Community in Abakaliki Local Government Area.
Ozobi also alleged that officers from the State Criminal
Investigation Department released the suspects after their families made the
payments but later arrested them again and took them to court.
Ukandu said the police command had earlier denied the
allegations against the commissioner.
He said Ozobi was arrested in Anambra State and taken to
Ebonyi for investigation.
The police spokesperson also accused the social critic of
using a photograph of a former Commissioner of Police in Ebonyi State in one of
his posts. He said the use of the photograph “subjected the retired senior
police officer to unwarranted public ridicule and embarrassment.”
Ozobi later admitted that using the former commissioner’s
photograph was wrong and said he had removed it from the post. However, he
maintained his allegation that the police collected bribes.
Ukandu said the police respected citizens’ right to freedom
of expression but “not tolerate the deliberate dissemination of false,
malicious or defamatory information calculated to tarnish the image of the
command and the Force at large.”
He urged members of the public to verify information before
sharing it and to submit genuine complaints through the appropriate authorities
for investigation.
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