. as judge advises parties to go for amicable settlement
By Chuks Eke
The Federal High Court No. 2 sitting in Awka, Anambra state, presided over by Justice BMK Mohammed has at last granted a temporary bail to Ikenna Ezeume, an Awka-based businessman who was arraigned for character defamation and remanded in Awka Correctional Center for alleged defamation of character.
In his ruling shortly after the defence counsel, A. C. Nwogbo Esq. moved his motion for bail and the Police prosecution counsel, O. O. Ayogu read his counter affidavit insisting that although he was not opposing the bail application, but the bail must be taken by a credible surety, Justice Mohammed ordered that the temporary bail condition would be perfected by the court Registrar.
Justice Mohammed maintained that the temporary bail condition would subsist pending the determination of the bail application filed by the defence and the counter affidavit filed by the prosecution at a later date to be communicated to both parties in due course.
Justice Mohammed however charged practicing lawyers in Anambra State to desist from shielding their clients from attending court proceedings with forged or medical reports from private hospitals as applicable in this particular matter where one of the defence counsels tendered medical reports from private hospitals and shielded the accused person from coming to court on two or three occasions at the initial stage of his arraignment by the police.
The judge who expressed disappointment that the defence counsels are busy defending the accused person who went rival in social media with an accusation that the nominal complainant, Barrister Jideofor Okongwu, a one-time Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Anaocha branch, one of the eight branches of NBA in Anambra state, allegedly used fake certificate to gain admission into university as a law student and also attended law school with fake certificate.
“If a person wakes up one day and said this lawyer is fake and get out of it, what stops you members of NBA from running round for your colleague instead of other way round? I expected you, the defence counsels to tell your client that what you did to our colleague is condemnable and unprofessional, let us sit down and talk about it, instead, you go to the extent of forging a fake medical report to shield him. It is wrong”.
“It shows a clear disrespect to the profession. Even if it is true that he used a fake certificate to gain admission Into the university or 8nto the law school as alleged, is is not the duty of NBA to look into that and treat it as an in-house matter. Why must it be handled by an outsider?”
“Barrister Okongwu should be accosted with respect as a committed, dedicated and proud member of NBA in Nigeria, Justice Mohammed fumed, even as he
warned that it was highly ridiculous for the defense counsel to encourage their client to continue to bully their fellow lawyer and a former chairman of NBA for that matter, based on home politics, adding that the best way forward now is for both parties to go home and reconcile their diffetences before it becomes too late.
The police prosecution had in the charge alleged that Ezeume made defamatory statements against one Barrister Jideofor Okongwu, a former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Anaocha Branch, one of the eight branches of NBA in Anambra state. Okongwu was equally a member of the National Executive Committee, NEC of NBA.
In the charge No. FHC/AWK/107c/2025, Insoector-Grneral of Police, IGP versus Ikenna Ezeume, the police prosecution had alleged that Ezeume published defamatory voice notes against Barrister Okongwu between February and March, 2025, via social media.
The prosecution alleged in count one that the defendant knowingly published a defamatory audio message on two WhatsApp forums – Peoples’ Forum and Enugwu Village Forum, claiming that the nomunal complaint, Barrister Okongwu gained admission into the Nigerian Law School through fraudulent means and was unqualified to practice law.
 The prosecution contended that the statement was false and damaging to Okongwu’s reputation among members of the WhatsApp Forums and the general public and placed him in fear of potential physical attack.
The prosecution further alleged in count two that the accused person had made similar allegations in a publication on his Facebook page by falsely stating that Okongwu also fraudulently secured admission into Delta State University, thereby questioning the legitimacy of his legal qualifications, publications he knew were false and injurious to Okongwu’s character.
The offence, the prosecution stated, are punishable under Sections 24(2)(a) of the Cybercrimes Prevention, etc (Act. 2015 as amended in 2024, which deals with the intentional transmission of false information that injures the reputation of others.
