A coalition of Civil Society Groups in Ebonyi State has called on Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to order an investigation into allegations that a House of Representatives member, Chinedu Ogah, uses armed thugs to harass and intimidate some of his constituents in Ikwo Local Government Area.

The Prof. Joseph Agbo-led coalition said the call had become necessary because a series of petitions to police authorities on the activities of Ogah, who represents Ezza South/Ikwo Federal Constituency in the House, had stalled for months.

In one of the petitions, the coalition accused the lawmaker of unlawful possession of firearms and land-grabbing.

It listed some indigenes of the constituency, including Friday Alefia, a journalist and Chisom Achor, a Tik-toker, as currently being behind bars after they were arrested and arraigned by the Police at the behest of Ogah.

Others are Achor’s brother, Chinonso Imeba and Paul Nweke.

The group, which comprises four Civil Society Organisations-Human Rights Volunteer Corps (HRVC), Human Rights Action Group, Centre for the Defence of Human Rights, CDHR and Good Living Initiative, added that a few others had been compelled to flee their communities to avert falling victim to the lawmaker’s thugs.

One of the petitions sent to IGP Egbetokun and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, by the group’s lawyers, Ede S. Ede & Co, on behalf of Emeka Kingsley, Nweke Chidi and others was dated 25th November, 2025.

The petition reads in part, “It is our client’s brief that they have seen evil and what appears to be a permanent life in hellfire in the hands of Honourable Chinedu Ogah. Our clients say that the actions and activities of Hon. Chinedu Nweke Ogah are not only atrocious, but it is a situation of the timid mentality of might is right syndrome.

“Our clients contend that Hon. Chinedu Nweke Ogah displays firearms with live ammunition anyhow and shoots without control as he feels untouchable and has boasted severally that not even the Inspector General of Police can question his activities as he is his personal friend.

‘’Our clients say that Honourable Chinedu Nweke Ogah finds it very pleasurable to oppress the poor and any dissenting voice, more especially when the person or persons refuse to pay illegal levy, which Chinedu Ogah often uses his cronies to levy on the downtrodden in the Amagu and other communities in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State or that the person refuses to surrender his land (s) for Hon. Chinedu Ogah to grab.’’

The coalition listed 46 persons, including deceased, as victims of the lawmaker’s alleged reign of terror and appealed to concerned authorities to immediately use their good offices to cause a discreet investigation into the allegations.

The coalition had last week decried the high level of attacks on free speech by Ogah, who has been in the news for causing the detention of those who criticise him on social media in police cells and Correctional centres.

Also, a serving Commissioner in the state, Prof. Awo Nwaobashi, who allegedly ordered the torture of a journalist by the members of the Neighbourhood Watch, was rebuked by the group.

The coalition’s leader, Agbo, at recent appearances on television and radio programmes, had reiterated that although the group do not in any way support defamation of the characters of anyone, cyber-bullying or cyber-stalking of any kind, among others, the allegations levelled against Ogah were too heavy not to be investigated by the concerned authorities.

Agbo, Professor of Philosophy at Ebonyi State University, specifically made reference to Alefia, whose case was referred to a Federal High Court. He said the judge fined the prosecutor N50,000 for attempting to ensure that he does not get bail.”

He said the group’s biggest concern was that ‘’as long as there are laws in our land, even if one commits murder, the laws have provided for how such a person should be handled according to law.’’

‘’As a coalition, we never and we would never support cyber-bullying of anybody. But we don’t want the cybercrime laws to become another Public Officers Protection Against False Accusation Decree Number 2 under the military rule. We are worried that the cybercrimes law appears to be slipping into that Decree’’’ the coalition boss added.

“What we are saying is that Hon. Ogah did not go to arrest any of these persons. The Police did. Hon. Ogah did not drag any of them to these Courts. The Police also did.

‘’The judiciary is the one that is hearing these cases. But the point we are making is: Why do you arrest somebody, handcuff him like a common criminal for cyber-bullying or defamation, and you dump him in the station for weeks, or for days, and in the case of Friday Alefia, for months? Why do you refer a case of cyber-bullying to a magistrates’ court?’’