Our Reporter, Abuja
The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has called on the Enugu State Government to urgently review the case of Mr. Godwin Odey, who it says was wrongfully arrested and charged with murder and unlawful possession of Indian hemp.
In a statement issued on Monday, RULAAC said it received a petition from Olu Omotayo, Esq., President of the Civil Rights Realisation and Advancement Network (CRRAN), highlighting what appears to be a serious miscarriage of justice in the case.
According to the petition, Odey—an OND graduate of Banking and Finance from Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, and a dispatch rider with IFEX Courier, Abuja—was arrested on September 20, 2025, at Obollo-Afor, Enugu State, alongside others while returning to Abuja after attending a friend’s traditional marriage.
Despite eyewitness accounts and evidence—including photographs and videos from the wedding of Mr. Morgan Paul Odeh and Miss Loveth Chisom Ikechukwu held between September 19 and 20, 2025—police allegedly charged Odey in connection with the murder of Rev. Fr. Matthew Eya, a Catholic priest killed along the Eha-Alumonah–Eha-Ndiagu Road, Nsukka, on September 19.
Family sources, according to the petition, claim that two of Odey’s friends who were arrested alongside him regained freedom after allegedly paying bribes, while Odey, unable to meet the financial demand, was falsely implicated and arraigned with strangers.
The cases—Charge No. MEN/566C/2025: Commissioner of Police v. Eze Obiora & Others (Murder of Rev. Fr. Matthew Eya) and Charge No. MEN/565C/2025: Commissioner of Police v. Eze Obiora & Others (Unlawful possession of Indian hemp)—have since raised public concern over police conduct in the state.
RULAAC described the situation as “a grave miscarriage of justice and a flagrant abuse of police powers,” lamenting that it reflects the persistent problems of corruption, extortion, and arbitrary arrests in Nigeria’s criminal justice system.
The organisation demanded an immediate review of the charges against Odey, the intervention of the Enugu State Ministry of Justice, and an independent investigation into the conduct of the police officers involved. It also called for Odey’s unconditional release pending the outcome of a credible review.
“No citizen should have their life and future destroyed by a system that trades liberty for bribes,” said Okechukwu Nwanguma, Executive Director of RULAAC, who signed the statement.
He urged Governor Peter Mbah, the Enugu State Attorney-General, the Police Service Commission, and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to act swiftly “in the interest of justice and the rule of law.”
“The Enugu State Government must demonstrate that justice still matters in our democracy,” Nwanguma added.
