The Enugu State Police Command has verified the arrest of Madu Onuorah, an Abuja-based journalist, on allegations of defamation by a Reverend Sister in the United States.
Officers from the Ebonyi State Police Command apprehended Onuorah and handed him over to Enugu State Police Command personnel.
Onuorah was detained when a Reverend Sister in the United States petitioned the Enugu State Commissioner of Police, charging the journalist of defamation.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer Daniel Ndukwe confirmed that Onuorah was detained in Abuja by police officers from the Ebonyi State Police Command.
The statement read, “The Enugu State Police Command is in receipt of several publications alleging the abduction of an Abuja-based online news publisher, one Madu Onuorah “m”.
“The command wishes to state that contrary to the allegations, he was duly arrested in Abuja with the assistance of police operatives from Ebonyi State Command and the aid of intelligence, after efforts made to formally invite him failed.
“Furthermore, his arrest was following the receipt of a written petition to the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Command, against him over an alleged defamatory publication he made against a US-based Reverend Sister.”
Ndukwe added that the Enugu State Commissioner of Police, Kanayo Uzuegbu, has ordered the office handling the case to professionally investigate and ensure that justice prevails.
“He calls on the press family, particularly the leadership and members of the Federal Capital Territory Chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, and associates of the suspect, to exercise patience, assuring that the needful will be done in the case,” he added.
Onuorah was on Wednesday, May 22, whisked away by men of the Nigeria Police Force at about 6 pm, in Abuja.
It was gathered that about 10 fully-armed policemen stormed his residence in Lugbe, Abuja, in two Sienna buses.
He was arrested in the presence of his wife and children, who fruitlessly demanded from the police why they were arresting the head of the family.
The police have seized Onuorah’s phones, thereby completely cutting him off from communication with people, including his family members.