By Lukman Olabiyi
The founder of Zion Prayer Movement Outreach, Evangelist Ebuka Obi, has denied the allegation circulating on social media that he played a role in the continued detention of a blogger,Chizorom Harrison Ofoegbu, popularly known as “Ijele Speaks.”
Ofoegbu is currently facing trial before Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court, Lagos, over allegation of threat to life reported to the police by Obi.
At a press conference in Lagos at the weekend, Media and Public Relations Consultant for the church, Dan Aibangbe, alongside the church’s legal team, described the social media reports linking Obi to Ofoegbu’s detention as baseless, malicious, and a deliberate attempt to mislead the public.
The legal team emphasized that the claims were aimed at tarnishing the reputation of both the church and its spiritual leader.
The legal team provided certified true copies of court proceedings, which showed that Ofoegbu had been granted bail on June 14, 2024.
However, when he failed to meet the initial bail conditions, he applied for a variation of the terms.
The prosecution did not object, and the court granted his request. His trial was subsequently adjourned to October 21 and 22, 2024.
“As far as we know, he perfected the bail conditions and should have been released thereafter,” the legal team stated.
Shedding more light on what actually happened the church legal team, however, said that at the resumption of trial on October 21, 2024, Ofoegbu’s counsel informed the court that his client was still in custody and that he was not brought to court by men of the Nigerian Correctional Services.
The trial judge, Akintoye Aluko then, sought clarifications from the prosecutor as to the reason Ofoegbu was still in the custody having been granted bail and same perfected.
The church legal team said the prosecutor in his reply,told Justice Aluko,that Ofoegbu os currently in prison custody over a separate legal matter involving allegations of defamation and cybercrime committed against Daddy Hezekiah, founder of Living Christ Mission.
“Ijele Speaks’ current incarceration arose from a separate matter involving alleged defamation and cyber stalking against Daddy Hezekiah, the founder of Living Christ Mission. The matter is currently before the Awka High Court in Anambra State”.
The legal team added that as a law abiding citizen, Evangelist Obi owed it a duty to report any wrong doing done to him to the police for necessary action and that was what he has done in the case.
“ As far as we are concerned, we know Ofoegbu was granted bail by the court in July 2024 in a case involving allegations of threats to life reported by Evangelist Obi and we did not oppose his bail”.
They further clarified that Ofoegbu bail was perfected with documentary proof to support the claim.