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Last week, we published a story as a commentary titled : I Am Ready To Testify Against Afe Babalola In The Case Of Dele Farotimi by Barr. Emeka Ugwuonye, where he alleged some foul play and intervention of Chief Afe Babalola in a case of domestic violence involving Mrs. Florence Onyinye Ikpeze, and his husband, Dr. Nnamdi Ikpeze.
Mrs. Ikpeze who responded to the publication berated the author on what she described as falsehood while asking the public to disregard any narration given so far by Barr. Ugwuonye in his facebook page, as there is no iota of truth in the narration. Meanwhile, Ugwuonye has responded again, insisting that whatever he has authored in the public space is nothing but the truth. He insisted that if our Editor who spoke with him on a telephone last week need proofs, he can provide, that Mrs. Ikpeze is trying to please Chief Babalola in her rejoinder.
Here is Mrs. Ikpeze’s response, dated December 10, 2024
To Whom It May Concern
Re: I Am Ready To Testify Against Afe Babalola In The Case Of Dele Farotimi.
I am ENGR. FLORENCE ONYINYE IKPEZE.
My attention has been drawn to a publication by one Mr. Emeka Ugwuonye, titled: “I AM READY TO TESTIFY AGAINST AFE BABALOLA IN THE CASE OF DELE FAROTIMI”. Emeka Ugwuonye and his organization run two Facebook groups known as:
- DUE PROCESS ADVOCATES. (DPA); and,
- ECULAW GROUP
These are public Facebook groups where he shared the publication.
In the said publication, which has now gained great popularity;
Emeka Ugwuonye made many false and mind-boggling allegations against members of my family and Aare Afe Babalola SAN. Among many outright falsehoods, He stated that Aare Afe Babalola supported my husband Nnamdi Ikpeze to intimidate me and my mother, Mrs. Josephine Uche Mbelu with the Police and that he Emeka Ugwuonye wrote letters to Aare Afe Babalola and The Commissioner of Police Ekiti State.
Now, the brief facts are that sometime in early 2023, I had some serious disagreements with my husband. In the course of this disagreement, I needed the advice and services of a lawyer. The matter also got to the police. A relative reached out to Emeka Ugwuonye to help locate a lawyer in Ekiti. We had all thought that he was a lawyer. He collected a huge sum of money to send one of his lawyers. Up until today, the legal services that I paid for in full were not rendered.
I left Ekiti without seeing the female lawyer that he was supposed to have sent to me.
It is important to state that I never briefed Emeka Ugwuonye to represent me anywhere or to speak for me in any place. After I paid him to help me get a lawyer, he started inserting himself into the matter and trying to take over the case. This is as against just helping me to get a lawyer. When I realised that he was trying to take over the case himself, I did not want that to happen because I needed a lawyer who was based in Ekiti. To cut the long story short, he started asking for pictures of my husband and my mother-in-law and sending me messages asking me to permit him to post them on social media, this I believe was to blackmail them. I flatly refused, and I have proof of this.
After he persuaded me to send pictures for a social media post, I then made a background check on him and found out that he was always in the news for the wrong reasons and had been disbarred in the USA and Nigeria. I wanted a legal solution, and I didn’t want drama and so I stopped communicating with him.
He didn’t communicate with me again until two days ago when he texted me on WhatsApp and posed a question thus: “what happened in the end after your husband used “baba’s ” influence to intimidate you?”
In my reply, I made it clear that I had just seen his publication and that I am not interested in being joined in the issues between Dele Farotimi and Aare Afe Babalola SAN . I made it clear that his publication was unacceptable and that he should withdraw it and pull it down as there is nothing connecting my personal matter to the trending Farotimi case. I also made it clear that contrary to his belief and publication, neither Aare Afe nor Nnamdi intimidated me.
He tried to justify his position, and I blocked him on WhatsApp.
In fact, I had worked at Afe Babalola University for over 8 years, and in all of my time there, Aare Afe was a father to the family. When he found out that I had issues with my husband, he mediated and helped give us a chance to find peace. Aare also asked me to feel free to call him at any time when I wanted to visit Ekiti.
There is no reason whatsoever for Mr. Emeka Ugwuonye to author such a malicious publication and put it out in the public domain just because he wants to be known in Nigeria by latching onto the current notoriety of the Farotimi case.
He also attached to his publication two letters, which he claims that he dispatched to Aare Afe and the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti State. I will state here that while he drafted those letters and sent the drafts to me, to the best of my knowledge, those letters were never delivered to the Commissioner of Police Ekiti State, or Aare Afe Babalola SAN up till today
Emeka Uwguonye also never represented me, or my mother in any court, or at any other place. So it comes as a surprise to me that he could publish such letters and stories to the public.
In view of the widely circulated publication by Mr. Emeka Ugwuonye, which does not reflect actual events, I, Engr Onyinye Florence Ikpeze hereby disclaims Emeka Ugwuonye and his publication in totality. he does not represent me or any member of my family, and his stories are generally not true and should not be believed.
I issue this disclaimer because I will not fold my hands and let my name be used to mislead the general public. therefore, let the public take note so as not to be misled.
Thank you.
cc:
- Emeka Ugwuonye
- Nnamdi Ikpeze
- Mrs Josephine Uche Mbelu.
- Commissioner of Police Ekiti State
- Aare Afe Babalola SAN.
Meanwhile, Barr. Ugwuonye has responded in a rejoinder titled : The Danger Of Domestic Violence Is That The Victim Is Often A Total Victim: The Case Of Onyinye Florence Ikpeze And Nnamdi Ikpeze Shows This
It is necessary for me to make this further post in order to address the recent disclaimer issued by Mrs. Onyinye Florence Ikpeze, In her disclaimer, she disingenuously attempted to deny my earlier post in which I pointed out my involvement in a matter where I witnessed the influence of Afe Babalola.
Mrs. Ikpeze came to DPA and reported a case of domestic violence against her husband, Dr. Nnamdi Ikpeze, a law lecturer at Afe Babalola University. Our organization advised her on how to handle the tension in her marriage and how she should report to the police in Ekiti State where they were based. She did not come back to us for months.
Then, she came back and reported that the police from Ekiti State Command were arresting her and her children and her sister in Port Harcourt, where she had fled to in order to escape domestic violence. Mrs. Ikpeze shared with us the court process showing that she had filed a case in Port Harcourt. (I will attach her Affidavit in that case together with the order of the court to show you that we are not making these things up. Her sworn affidavit is a public record).
We immediately intervened by contacting the police carrying out the arrest and by sending letters to their commanders in Ekiti. As we were handling the case administratively from Lagos, we also appointed a lawyer in Ekiti State for her. (I will attach a screenshot of my chat with Mrs. Ikpeze to show you that a lawyer was appointed for her, and she had no problem with that). That lawyer’s immediate role was to be at the police station to ensure that Mrs. Ikpeze was granted administrative bail and that her children would not be taken away from her.
Also, I sent a letter to the police requesting that bail be granted to Mrs. Ikpeze. (A copy of my letter to that effect to that effect is attached for you to see that we are not making this up). I also engaged the husband (Dr. Nnamdi Ikpeze) in extensive chats. (I attach a screenshot of part of our chats where I was asking him to propose a co-parenting agreement).
As I stated in my initial post, my correspondence with the police was delivered in two different ways. I forwarded a copy to the IPO (Inspector Isah) for delivery to his superior. I also gave a copy to Mrs. Ikpeze for her to submit to the police. I had extensive chat with the IPO, and I have the records of those chats. Also, my letter to Babalola was transmitted through Mrs. Ikpeze and her husband.
Mrs. Ikpeze was in constant touch with me to relay every detail of what was going on ground zero – the meetings of the parties with Babalola and what the senior law said each time and what everyone else said. Based on each report, we would advise her on what to do next.
It became necessary for me to share these details to debunk the attempt by the victim of domestic violence (Mrs. Ikpeze) to try to deny what happened. We understand she is doing so in order to avoid retribution or retaliation by her husband and his mother or by the people around Babalola. In fact, two days ago, Mrs. Ikpeze called me complaining to me that my post on this matter might lead to her being victimized by her husband and his family and by supporters of Babalola. I told her not to worry about it. So, her recent post titled DISCLAIMER is typical of a victim of domestic violence. Apparently, her husband and his mother must have been embarrassed by my post, and they might have issued threats to her. Hence, her disclaimer. This is a typical problem of domestic violence. The victim is often turned against her rescuer. facebook.com/share/p/1KuX5W…
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