Felix Ihenacho, a retired Air Force officer, has threatened to use the police to hunt down a reporter with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism and Social Justice (FIJ) after a land tussle story for which he had failed to respond when contacted.>>>CONTINUE FULL READING HERE....CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE
Thewas about how Iheanacho used the police to intimidate and arrest one Joseph Oluigbo, an Abuja-based furniture upholsterer, over a land tussle in April.
Ihenacho had first called FIJ on Monday April 17 asking to speak with Opeyemi Lawal, the reporter who wrote the story and had contacted him back in April for his reaction before going to press.
He then called two days later to ask about FIJ’s address and to speak with Lawal, who was unavailable when he called.
On Thursday morning, Ihenacho rang FIJ again, and the reporter he wanted to speak with answered the call. He requested FIJ’s office address. But when the reporter insisted that the conversation could be held over the phone rather than in person, he threatened to use the police to track FIJ down.
“Where is your office? I want to come and see you. I was not in the country when your message came into my phone and I can not be responding to every Tom, ***, and Harry whom I do not know,” he said.
“I do not even know your credentials, whether you are a blogger or a paid agent. You are hiding your office address, to say your office address is a problem for you; that means you don’t have one and I am beginning to get suspicious.
“I may hand over this number to the police, and we are going to locate you and track you and come over you. Police arrested someone; you should go to them and find out from them, and if you insist you can’t be seen, that means you are hiding something illegal and illegitimate about your business because if you say you are legit, you will be able to say where your office is located. Come over, let us meet.”
When our reporter pointed out that she had introduced herself and the organisation in the multiple messages sent to him, he insisted on knowing the office address. Ihenacho stated the reporter would be confident to release the office address if the organisation is genuine.
“Your organisation should have an office and a location. Every organisation should have an address. An organisation is not on the phone. Yours is an organisation that doesn’t exist and that means it is the usual Nigerian 419.
“Don’t you have an office address? Are you registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)? These are the issues. But I need to see you and you are now hiding. You don’t want to see me, what is the meaning of that?”
Deflecting from responding to the questions sent to him on May 20 and 21, the ex-military officer further stated that the reporter should have contacted the police and not him.
When the reporter said she also reached out to the police but got no response, Ihenacho stated that the police had no right to withhold information according to the Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill which has since been passed into law.
“I would have been comfortable if you had carried your investigation to the person whom you say arrested somebody. The police have no right to withhold information from you; if you come today and say why did they arrest the woman of ERISCO Tomato [sic], I will tell you.”
Our reporter once again directed him to the internet for information on FIJ, Ihenacho flared up and said he would ensure that the police were sent after FIJ and Lawal.
“I am going to hand over this case to the appropriate agency, and I am going to get you. I am going to track you. I am going to come after you because you are giving me the impression that you are a paid agent in the first place,” he said.
“I do not have a land matter with anyone, and if someone tells you something why not go to the police to find out? The person in question, I have never set my eyes on him, and I am sure he doesn’t know me. Why not ask the police all the way?
“Where did you train? I think your training falls short of a mark. Just prepare yourself, my lawyers are going to come after you, and if you can hide, no problem; I will track you. I will track your number; I will have the police come after you.”
When FIJ asked if this was a threat? He said, “I have made my point, the law will take its course. I am going to take legal steps, I am a law-abiding citizen and I will ensure that I see this to the end. You have no right to defame anybody.”
On May 23, FIJ published a report about how Ihenacho had used the office of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Monitoring Unit, Headquarters, Abuja to intimidate elders of Umuokwaraku in Imo State. Oluigbo, who resides in Abuja, took the bail of the elders at the time, as a kinsperson.
Uchenna Iwuala told FIJ that the community thought the case had been resolved after the bail of the elders. But in February 2024 the police summoned the elders for further questioning.
“Fast track to February 2024, we thought the matter was under control until the community received another invite from the police, asking them to appear at the force headquarters,” Iwuala said.
“But due to the prevailing economic challenges, they could not honour the invitation. The police then arrested Oluigbo, saying that he was the one who stood as surety for the men.
“They arrested him on April 20, and he was not released until this afternoon after he was taken to the hospital due to his deteriorating health. While he was in custody, they refused to charge him in court or even grant him bail despite clamours for his release.”
Oluigbo was released by the police on May 20 after spending one month in detention. When FIJ called Felix Ihenacho for comments on May 20, his line wasn’t available. WhatsApp and text messages also sent to him the following day were not responded to.
FIJ also called Muyiwa Adejobi, the Police Force Public Relations Officer, for comments, but his line was unreachable. A text message sent to him on the same day was also not responded to.>>>CONTINUE FULL READING HERE
