The operatives of the Imo State Police Command have arrested broadcaster and activist, Mr. Chinonso Ubah (alias Nonsonkwa).
The arrest was effected in the night of Sunday, October 20, 2024, along Port Harcourt Road Owerri, the Imo State capital.
Speculation was rife last night that Nonsonkwa might have been kidnapped by unknown gunmen going by the manner his vehicle was blocked while he was in motion and he was seized in a commando style.
Throughout Sunday night, police authorities kept mute as enquiries on the incident were met with silence.
But police authorities owned up this morning to have been responsible for his arrest.
In a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO ASP Henry Okoye, the police said Nonsonkwa was arrested on the strength of a petition written by an unnamed concerned citizen.
ASP Okoye said the petitioner accused the activist of engaging in cyberstalking, character defamation, spreading of misinformation and inflammatory statements.
The PPRO further said the petitioner claimed that Nonsonkwa's alleged spread of misinformation and inflammatory statements via viral videos led to the razing of the National Open University (NOUN) Study Centre in Ezeoke-Nsu, Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, on September 30, 2024..
ASP Okoye refuted report that the broadcaster was abducted by unknown gunmen saying that the activist is at present in the police gulag at its headquarters in Owerri.
The statement reads in part; "The Command clarifies that he was not abducted. Nonsonkwa is currently detained at State Headquarters and will be arraigned in court with appropriate charges once a comprehensive investigation is completed.
"The Command remains committed to upholding the rule of law and maintaining peace and order in the state, emphasizing that no individual involved in the tragic attack and burning of the NOUN study centre will escape full legal consequences".
Nonsonkwa was accused of inciting the arson perpetrated at the NOUN Study Centre and home of Senator Frank Ibezim on September 30 for analysing a news report aired on Television Continental TVC on the plan of the Federal Government to establish an Internally Displaced Persons IDP Camp at the NOUN Study Centre.
Some people canvassed his arrest shortly after the arson while some media practitioners insisted that he committed no crime.
