The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has formally petitioned the Inspector-General of Police to protest the arrest and “unlawful detention” of a security consultant, Dr. Robert Anya Nkata.
The rights group alleges that an Enugu Chief Magistrate, Mrs. Ngozi Edeani, is using her influence to weaponize the police in a personal dispute.
In the petition, RULAAC claims that Dr. Nkata was arrested at his Abuja residence on October 4, 2025, by officers from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) and has since been detained without bail.
The arrest is based on a complaint filed by Magistrate Edeani in October, which alleges an assassination attempt on her life five months earlier, on May 23, 2025, during a funeral in Enugu State.
RULAAC raised several red flags concerning the case, highlighting the following: The magistrate bypassed all local police jurisdictions in Enugu, where the alleged crime occurred, and took the case directly to the FCID headquarters in Abuja—a practice the IGP has previously discouraged as an abuse of process.
There was a five-month gap between the alleged incident and the filing of the report, with no record of any complaint being made at the time of the supposed attack, which reportedly happened in public.
RULAAC suggests the real motive is not a criminal threat but is connected to a family dispute and a pending EFCC investigation into alleged share manipulation at a mortgage bank where the magistrate reportedly has vested interests.
“The suspicious timing of the complaint, the identity of the complainant, and the surrounding circumstances strongly suggest a deliberate attempt to use the Police to persecute and silence Dr. Nkata,” said Okechukwu Nwanguma, Executive Director of RULAAC.
The organisation argues that the detention violates Dr. Nkata’s constitutional rights and constitutes a perversion of justice.
RULAAC is demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Nkata and a full review of the case to ensure due process is followed. The group urged the Inspector-General to prevent the police from being used as “a tool in personal or political vendettas” and to restore confidence in the force’s professionalism and impartiality.
