Daily Times: Sen. Obiora on the run as IGP orders arrest

. Expresses shock over illegal action by DIG Dagala, others without his consent

. Says decisive action will be taken against indicted officers on DTN matters

A former lawmaker, Senator Ikechukwu Obiora, is on the run following an order issued on Wednesday night by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Abukakar Idris, for his arrest.

Over 30 officers and men from the Force Headquarters who stormed his Asokoro, Abuja residence on Thursday morning to effect his arrest were told by security men in the house that he was not in town.

But sources revealed that Sen. Obiora was earlier tipped off by a mole within the IGP’s office of the arrest order, hence he sneaked out of the house before the officers arrived at his residence.

The order by the IGP to arrest Obiora followed his alleged fraudulent activities with his cohorts including the Chairman of DSTV, Adewumi Ogunsanya, over attempt to acquire properties belonging to The Daily Times and the illegal use of police action to arrest the Publisher, Mr. Fidelis Anosike, the Group Managing Director, Barrister Noel Anosike, some management and line staff of The Daily Times who were detained for seven days and were denied bail by a Magistrates’ Court in Mpape, a suburb of Abuja.

After invading the Abuja office of The Daily Times, Sen. Obiora had also led some policemen to the newspaper’s Lagos office complex in Agidingbi, Ikeja which they ransacked, carted away documents and equipment including computers, laptops, cameras, phones, air-conditioners and generating sets, among others.

The Daily Times management had therefore written petitions to President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), the Chief Justice of the Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen and the IGP.

In the petition which was signed by Mr. Fidelis Anosike and Barrister Noel Anosike and widely reported in the media, the duo alleged abuse of powers and intimidation by Obiora who colluded with certain police officers to humiliate and embarrass them.

According to them, those involved include DIG Hyacinth Dagala of the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID), ACP Njoku, SP Elizabeth Ezeh and ASP Yakubu Hankari.

According to Police sources, before ordering for the arrest of Obiora, the IGP expressed shock that DIG Dagala could arrest, detain and arraign The Daily Times Publisher and his members staff without briefing him on the matter even as the First Information Report of the case reads IGP of Police Versus Anosike, Obiora and others.

The IGP was also said to have ordered full investigation of the roles played by the police officers and men involved in the matter.

The petition to the IGP reads in part: “It is noteworthy here that the issue forming the backdrop of Sen. Ikechukwu Obiora’s antics in this case is the long-drawn fight for the ownership of Daily Times of Nigeria Plc, a case the investigation of which was done during the time of the then Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, and concluded to be purely civil in nature and which is pending in various courts in Nigeria. The then Attorney-General of the Federation had also found and advised that the matter was a civil one on the basis of which its prosecution was stopped.

“The self-same Sen. Ikechukwu Obiora had also engineered another criminal prosecution against us in Lagos (Charge No: LA/204/2011) over the same issue while the Lagos State High Court in Igbosere dismissed in its totality.

“You may wish to know Sir that in 2004, our company, Folio Communications Ltd, bided for and bought DTN in a widely publicised and transparent privatisation process executed by the Federal Government and that DTN was duly handed over to Folio Communications Limited in September, 2014.

“Ikechukwu Obiora only has minority interest in a Company that has minority shares in DTN. It is for this reason that Obiora has done everything possible to convert DTN to himself including going to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) with forged documents to change ownership of the Company which the courts have severally declared illegal.

“Obiora has initiated several criminal cases against us and DTN, all of which have been dismissed including a Lagos State High Court, a Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal. In dismissing the cases, the courts expressly declared that the issues in dispute are purely civil and not criminal in nature.

“It is because he cannot have DTN that Ikechukwu Obiora resorted to obtaining injustice from the back door by colluding with DIG Dagala and running to a Magistrates’ Court in Mpape, Abuja on a matter that is pending in courts with superior jurisdiction.

“Please note also sir that a dispute between Folio Communications and Ikechukwu Obiora on Daily Times ownership was resolved in 2006 following intervention of some stakeholders in the media industry after which a Consent Judgement was granted by a Federal High Court in 2006. Obiorah has continued to act in breach of both the Statement of Agreement and the Consent Judgement.

“We have gone through many legal battles over the years on this same matter both civil and criminal most of which were initiated by Ikechukwu Obiora, in spite of the Consent Judgement arising from the amicable settlement of April 2006. It is however of importance to state that we have won all the cases so far while others are pending at the High Courts and the Court of Appeal. In the same vein, the courts have dismissed all criminal prosecutions initiated against us by Ikechukwu Obiora while declaring that issues arising from the suits are civil and not criminal, yet he remains unabated”.

Meanwhile, Mr Fidelis Anosike has condemned the raid and arson on the DTN properties at its Lagos office complex in Ikeja by Sen Obiora, saying that Obiora and his hoodlums have succeeded in destroying The Daily Times. He added that concerted efforts are being made by the stakeholders to rectify the situation as the heritage newspaper is on course.

The desperation of former lawmaker, Senator Ikechukwu Obiorah, to cripple The Daily Times newspaper reached the crescendo on Wednesday night, when hoodlums, suspected to be working for him, cannibalised the operational headquarters of the heritage newspaper at Agidingbi, Ikeja Lagos.

The hoodlums, at the behest of Sen. Obiora, carted every equipment in sight at the office in a truck. These include computers, printers, airconditioners, generators, electric bulbs, and sockets among others.

Recall that over 20 police officers acting at the prompting of the former lawmaker last week invaded The Daily Times operational office in Agidingbi, Ikeja-Lagos. During the invasion, they arrested five members staff of the heritage newspaper.