Unjustly Incarcerated or Guilty? The Controversial Detention of Nwabueze Success Over Alleged Pension Fraud | #NwokeukwuMascot

 Opinion 

Pension Fraud or Punishment for Leaking Govt. Official Documents by Don Norman Obinna (Agu Ibeku) | #NwokeukwuMascot

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The day Success Nwabueze was abducted by gestapo masked armed men and whisked to an unknown destination, I contacted all my senior allies in the Abia State police command, Zone 9 and the CPS and their responses were the same, 'we had no such name and person in our custody'.

Then, I called the Abia State DSS Director, but couldn't get through because her number was switched off. The Deputy Director, however picked up my call, but said he has been transferred to Abuja some months ago and had no knowledge of the said arrest and detention. 

However, after several inquiries, at about midnight, I was reliably informed  that Nwabueze was with the DSS.

When I probed further, the source who craved anonymity said they were interrogating him for leaking official documents containing vital government information to the opposition in the state. 

So, when the DSS denied having him in their custody, the next day, I knew something was amiss.But I refrained from counteracting them because I held someone in confidence. 

I, however informed John Okiyi Kalu  that Nwabueze was in the DSS cell to douse the escalating tension and the fear of his whereabouts and safety. 

I was not surprised when the Abia State government, through a release signed by the governor's spokesman, Ferdinand Ekeoma owned up to the arrest and detention by the DSS some few days after. 

My suspicion was heightened when it asserted that Nwabueze was arrested by the DSS for a 'syndicated multi-million naira pension funds theft'.

Predictably, the government confirmed my misgiving with the conclusion that he (Nwabueze) had owned up to the crime through a confessional statement and would be arraigned soon. 

To further disorient the already discombobulated public and justify Governor Otti's despotism as usual, his headless mobsters and hallelujah boys subjected the boy to social media trials and pronounced him guilty on the prima facie allegation.

However, to achieve consensus, some consonant factors will suffice.

(1) To date, the DSS never made a public statement confirming Nwabueze's arrest, detention, reason and confession. It was the Abia State government that curiously and questionably assumed the role of the DSS spokesperson to downplay its barbarism. 

(2) Financial crimes are not part of the DSS constitutional oversights. Otti's government decision to disinvolve the EFCC in a grievious pension funds theft is suspicious. 

(3) Since the DSS lacks the constitutional rights to prosecute financial crimes, it couldn't have been the prosecutor in Nwabueze's case. So who charged him to court? 

(4) Otti's government knows that the Magistrate Courts lack the jurisdiction to entertain fraud cases. Why was he arraigned before a Magistrate if the intention was not to incarcerate him unjustly? 

(5) The Abia State courts are under lock and key because of the ongoing judiciary workers strike. So, where did the Magistrate sit to remand Nwabueze? 

(6) In the absence of the State High Courts, the Federal High Court, Umuahia has the jurisdiction to entertain fraud cases. If Otti's government intention was to prosecute and not torture Nwabueze, it would have arraigned him at the Federal High Court. 

The barbarism, despotism and imperialism are concavities on the image of the government that gained a comprehensive acceptability with the promise of a new dawn and paradigm shift.

Pension fraud is a serious crime against the state and humanity. Unless it is a gimmick to grandstand or hoodwink the unsuspecting public into believing that Governor Otti is fighting corruption, proper prosecution is preferable than subjective incarceration and media trials.