Acha discharged after 7 months in custody

By Chukwuma Umeorah

After spending seven months in custody, human rights defender Emmanuel Acha has been discharged and acquitted by Abakaliki High Court, Ebonyi State, which ruled that the prosecution failed to establish any credible case against him.

The court, in its judgment delivered in December 2025, held that the allegations of illegal arms possession, murder and instigation of violence were not supported by evidence. Acha had spent over 200 days at the Abakaliki Correctional Centre in Ebonyi State.

Reacting to the ruling, the Executive Director of the Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy and Development (FENRAD), Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, described Acha’s incarceration as “punishment for challenging state authorities through lawful means and said the judgment reaffirmed the role of the courts in checking abuse of power.”

Acha, Chairperson of the Enugu State Civil Society Network, was arrested in Enugu in early 2025 and transferred to Ebonyi State. His arrest followed a suit he filed in December 2024 at the Federal High Court against the Ebonyi State Government over its handling of the protracted Effium–Ezza land dispute in Ohaukwu Local Government .

Following his arrest, he was arraigned on charges linked to the communal conflict, including alleged illegal possession of arms and other serious offences. Civil society organisations consistently maintained that the case was politically motivated and aimed at intimidating activists.

During his detention, Acha was repeatedly denied bail. His supporters alleged physical abuse, psychological mistreatment and restrictions on access to lawyers, while also raising concerns about judicial neutrality.

The case drew coordinated intervention from the Action Group on Free Civic Space (AGFCS), a coalition of civil society organisations including Spaces for Change, the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) and FENRAD, which mounted sustained advocacy, legal support and media engagement.

In July 2025, the coalition petitioned Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, demanding Acha’s “immediate and unconditional release,” the “withdrawal of all politically motivated charges,” and “accountability for officials who abused power.”

Speaking at an AGFCS press conference on the judicial victory, the Executive Director of RULAAC, Okechukwu Nwanguma, said the case reflected “the criminalisation of dissent, the weaponisation of the criminal justice system, and the use of Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) to intimidate and silence critics.”

He added, “What we witnessed in court was revealing. Despite the severity of the allegations, arms possession, murder, instigation of violence, the prosecution could not produce firearms, could not produce victims, and could not establish any credible link between Comrade Acha and the alleged crimes.”

Nwanguma said the acquittal showed that “justice delayed may still be justice delivered, but it leaves scars on individuals, on families, and on democratic space.”

RULAAC said the case had become symbolic of the shrinking civic space in Nigeria, warning that the continued use of criminal prosecutions against activists undermines constitutional guarantees of free expression and access to justice.