Court sends man to prison for filming attack on NDC members

An Enugu East Magistrate’s Court in Nkwo Nike, Enugu State, has sent 45-year-old Chidi Ani to prison. He is accused of accusing three people of attacking members of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in Obuoffia Awkunanaw, Enugu State.

Reports earlier said that some hoodlums attacked and disrupted NDC meetings and later the Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday, 12 September, in Ndiuno-Obuoffia and Agbani Communities in Nkanu West Local Government Area.

Mr Ani recorded the attack on the NDC members. The police brought him to court on Monday on three charges of cybercrime and criminal defamation.

The charge sheet obtained by PREMIUM TIMES shows that he is not being charged for filming and sharing the attack on the NDC members. The police told the court that he published a video on social media, falsely accusing three individuals of carrying out the attack.

The three people he allegedly accused are Nnabuike Ani, Solomon Ifeanyi, and Monday Anninwe. The first count states: "That you, Ani Samuel Chidi 'm', on the 12th day of September, 2026, at about 05:40 hours at Obuoffia Awkunanaw, Enugu, did intentionally author, record and publish a false statement against Ani Nnabuike 'm' on Ite-Odo Obuoffia Community Whatsapp Group, Tik-Tok, Instagram, Facebook, Sahara Reporters by stating that 'he is a member of the armed group that attacked members of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and disrupted their political meeting' and also threatened to kill him and his family members, a publication which you knew to be false and put Ani Nnabuike 'm' in fear of imminent attack from members of the public; and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 24(2)(a)&(c)(i) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition Prevention Etc) Act, 2015 (as amended 2024)."

Mr Ani, the accused, pleaded not guilty to the charges. Chief Magistrate F. E. Chukwu ordered that he be kept in prison until the next court proceedings.

Chinyeaka Ohaa, the NDC governorship candidate in Enugu State, reacted to Mr Ani’s arrest. He condemned the decision to send him to prison. In a statement from his media aide Sampson Ukwu, posted on Facebook on Tuesday, Mr Ohaa said that Mr Ani is an NDC member who filmed the violent attack on party members.

“While the suspected attackers and their alleged sponsors remain free, the man who documented the incident is being prosecuted for cybercrime and criminal defamation,” he said.

Mr Ohaa called this situation a “disturbing case of justice turned upside down.” He added that filming and exposing an attack on citizens should not be seen as a crime in a democracy.

He questioned why Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has not spoken on the issue. He said the governor should respond since the attack happened in Nkanu Area, where he comes from.

“Your kinsmen and women were shot at a peaceful political meeting in your own cultural zone. Eight people sustained gunshot injuries.

“Yet, while the alleged perpetrators walk free, the eyewitness who recorded the attack is being remanded. Why the silence?” he said.

Mr Ohaa believes that the attackers should be found and punished, not the person who filmed the incident.

“When those who shoot innocent citizens are protected and the person who films the crime is punished, then we are in dangerous territory. I will not keep quiet while my people are treated this way,” he said.

He demanded the immediate release of Mr Ani and called for the “diligent prosecution” of everyone involved in the attack on the NDC members.