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.
