The Publicity of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Ebonyi State Chapter, Nwoba Chika Nwoba has finally issued a statement following his release from Abakaliki Correctional Centre.
Our correspondent had reported that Mr Nwoba was released on Thursday afternoon.
Nwoba’s ordeal started in February when he accused the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Commerce, Oguzor Offia-Nwali of embezzling money meant for hawkers in the State.
He was arrested in February following a petition by the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry in Ebonyi State, Oguzor Offia-Nwali.
Oguzor Offia-Nwali alleged that Mr Nwoba had in a series of posts on Facebook defamed him, threatened his life and falsely accused him of fraud and diversion of state government funds meant for the empowerment of petty traders in the state.
In a statement released on Thursday evening and seen by our correspondent, Nwoba said he is back from prison and will continue to advocate for the right things.
Nwoba said he cannot be subdued and efforts to force him post a funny writeup on his Facebook wall will hit the rock.
According to him, “I’m back from prison! I thank all the people who showed concerns about my incarceration online and offline. The list is endless. I won’t be outlining the names here for reasons of privacy and space, but I’ll reach out to everyone who played roles in ensuring that my freedom and wellbeing in prison were possible.”
“I shall take my time and narrate my ordeals as I’m aware of some distorted facts with regard to my three months of incarceration. One of such was that I was tracked in Awka and picked. A very close friend of mine in Ebonyi released my sister’s, worker’s and wife’s phone numbers to my traducers which led to getting me. Nobody tracked me. A friend I trusted sold me out. The 14 police officers tricked my sister to meet them from where she was coerced into inviting me to a police facility in Awka. That’s by the way.”
“I wasn’t abandoned in prison. Tens of people visited me on a daily basis so much that prison people were surprised at my personality. I thank the media organizations that carried my news and made case for me. I thank members of the Ebonyi Prestigious Club for their concerted efforts towards my release. I also thank other civil society organizations and my Facebook community for all that they did for the three months period I was held down. God will bless every one of you. In fact, I’m grateful for all the efforts contributed towards my freedom. I had to stop a protest that was organized by my supporters in Abakaliki for their own safety, a confirmation of the fact that people showed concerns about me. All thanks to those who stood as sureties for me. Thanks to my lawyers for their efforts. Family members and more…”
“The three months in prison was worth it. There’s nothing to regret about it. It’s not true that I was taught a bitter lesson; no, it’s false. People rallied round me in different ways. Prison authorities treated me fine. I stayed in a private room well furnished. The police never harassed me from Awka to Abakaliki. My being in prison has given birth to many good tidings for me such that I imagine what would have become of me if I had not found myself in prison. I thank God for my going to prison for the second time. I thank the Ebonyi State Government’s fact- finding committee on the hawkers money as chaired by Chief Stanley Emegha. The committee did a nice job in unravelling how the money was retired into private pockets.”
“God bless all you who showed concerns. I’ll continue to advocate for the right things. We can’t be subdued against the people. I’m back and much better now to continue from where we stopped. Efforts to force me post a funny writeup on my Facebook wall hit rock.”
“Thanks, once more.”
