The Enugu East Magistrate’s Court sitting at Nkwo Nike has ordered the remand of 45-year-old Chidi Ani in a correctional facility after he pleaded not guilty to charges arising from social media posts in which he allegedly accused three individuals of participating in the September 12 attack on members of the Nigeria Democratic Congress in Obuoffia Awkunanaw, Enugu State.
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Ani was arraigned by the Enugu State Police Command on Monday on three counts bordering on cybercrime and criminal defamation.
The case followed the violent disruption of political meetings held separately by the NDC and the Peoples Democratic Party on September 12 in Ndiuno-Obuoffia and Agbani communities in Nkanu West Local Government Area.
Ani was said to have recorded the attack on NDC members and later published footage of the incident on social media.
However, the charge filed by the police does not accuse him merely of filming or posting the incident. Rather, the prosecution alleges that in circulating the footage, he falsely identified three persons — Nnabuike Ani, Solomon Ifeanyi and Monday Anninwe — as being among those responsible for the attack.
In the first count, the police alleged that Ani, on September 12, 2026, at about 5:40 a.m. in Obuoffia Awkunanaw, intentionally authored, recorded and published what they described as a false statement concerning Ani Nnabuike on the Ite-Odo Obuoffia Community WhatsApp group, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Sahara Reporters.
According to the charge, Ani allegedly stated that Nnabuike “is a member of the armed group that attacked members of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and disrupted their political meeting” and also allegedly threatened to kill him and members of his family.
The prosecution contends that the publication was false and was capable of putting Nnabuike in fear of an imminent attack from members of the public.
The alleged offence was said to be punishable under Section 24(2)(a) and (c)(i) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024.
Ani pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following his plea, Chief Magistrate F. E. Chukwu ordered that he be remanded in a correctional facility pending further proceedings in the case.
The arraignment has since drawn a sharp reaction from the NDC governorship candidate in Enugu State, Chinyeaka Ohaa, who described the development as troubling and demanded Ani’s immediate release.
In a statement issued through his media aide, Sampson Ukwu, Ohaa said Ani was an NDC member who filmed the violent attack on party members and argued that the authorities ought to concentrate on identifying and prosecuting those responsible for the violence.
“While the suspected attackers and their alleged sponsors remain free, the man who documented the incident is being prosecuted for cybercrime and criminal defamation,” Ohaa said.
He described the development as “a disturbing case of justice turned upside down,” arguing that filming and exposing an attack on citizens should not, by itself, amount to criminal conduct in a democracy.
Ohaa also questioned what he described as the silence of Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah, noting that the attack occurred within the Nkanu area of the state, where the governor hails 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 asked.
The NDC candidate maintained that law-enforcement authorities should prioritise the investigation of those responsible for the attack rather than, in his view, focusing on the person who documented it.
“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,” Ohaa said.
He consequently called for Ani’s immediate release and demanded what he described as the diligent prosecution of all persons found to have participated in the attack on the NDC gathering.
The police allegation against Ani, however, is specifically that he went beyond recording the incident and falsely identified particular individuals as members of the armed group responsible for the attack.
That allegation remains to be proved in court, and Ani has pleaded not guilty.
The September 12 violence itself remains the subject of public concern, with opposition figures continuing to demand the identification and prosecution of those responsible for disrupting the political meetings and injuring participants.
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