A fact-finding committee set up by the Anambra State Government has cleared Ken Emeakayi, the security adviser to Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra, of an allegation that he was having a romantic affair with Mmasi Nwangwu, the wife of a convicted native doctor, Chukwudozie Nwangwu, otherwise known as Akwa Ọkụkọ.
A human rights lawyer, Chidi Odinkalu, via an X post on 25 April, claimed Mr Emeakayi was having a romantic affair with the wife of the convicted native doctor in the state.
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Mr Odinkalu, a professor, claimed in the post that while Mr Nwangwu was being held after being convicted in February, the head of a security agency in Anambra, who oversaw his trial, was busy having an affair with the native doctor’s wife.
Although Mr Odinkalu did not mention names, his description of the official matched Mr Emeakayi.
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The former chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission asked Mr Soludo to probe the allegation.
In response, the Anambra State Government set up a committee to investigate allegations against Mr Emeakayi, who is also the commander of the Agunechemba Vigilante Group in the South-eastern state.
‘False, misleading’
The committee, chaired by the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of the state, Tobechukwu Nweke, SAN, and other senior lawyers from the state Ministry of Justice, submitted findings of their report to Mr Soludo on Monday.
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The report seen by PREMIUM TIMES was dated 11 May.
The committee said in the report that it has concluded the investigation into the allegation made by Mr Odinkalu and found the claims to be false and misleading.
They stated that they took evidence from all accused parties, including the native doctor’s wife, his lawyer and Mr Emeakayi, who supervised the state’s prosecution of the native doctor.
“We issued several notices to Prof Odinkalu, inviting him to respond via text or to join a virtual or physical meeting to disclose the source of his information or provide evidence supporting his allegation. Prof Odinkalu failed to honour any of the notices,” the committee said.
The committee said, after reviewing all evidence presented by relevant persons, it found the testimonies consistent in establishing that Mr Emeakayi and Mrs Nwangwu did not have “any personal or improper relationship.”
It added that the committee consequently concluded that the allegation was “false and misleading.”
‘An amateur cover-up’
Reacting to the report by the committee, Mr Odinkalu insisted that his allegation against the security adviser to the governor stands unimpeached, dismissing the report as “an amateur cover-up.”
In another X post on Tuesday, Mr Odinkalu said he received two WhatsApp messages on 29 April and 1 May from a mobile number he had never communicated with before.
He said the sender, who identified himself as the attorney-general of Anambra State, Mr Nweke, demanded that he should disclose the sources of his allegation of the romantic affair between the security adviser and Mrs Nwangwu.
Giving reasons for not responding to the WhatsApp messages, the lawyer said he observed red flags in the messages and in the manner in which they were sent to him.
Mr Odinkalu faulted the idea of an investigation being conducted on WhatsApp.
“It also seemed to me incongruous that an investigation should be run on WhatsApp.
“Surely, an attorney-general claiming to be a SAN ought to know how to write a letter,” he said.
He continued: “I was genuinely sceptical about the credentials claimed by this person. I declined to dignify their transmission. I am glad I did so.”
Mr Odinkalu claimed that following his refusal to disclose his sources, the Anambra State Government now publicly named Mr Emeakayi as the subject of the allegations.
“What the Anambra State Government has attempted to do is worse than a whitewash. To make matters worse, it is incompetent.
“I am only disappointed that a state government with claims to progressive credentials will choose to stake its credibility in this manner on behalf of a man whose reputation for involvement in violence is long and large,” he said, referring to Mr Emeakayi.
“This vain and valiant attempt at a cover-up is all the proof there is as to the credibility of the claims I made. I stand by everything I have said.”
Background
Mr Nwangwu, a widely known native doctor in Anambra State, was arrested in February 2025 by operatives of Agunechemba, a local vigilante group in the state, over allegations of preparing charms for criminals and other rituals.
The police in the state, on 25 February of that year, filed 10-count charges against him, which were related to ritual practices, robbery, conspiracy, preparing charms for criminals and aiding internet fraudsters.
In February, a High Court in Awka, the capital of Anambra State, sentenced him to 12 years’ imprisonment.
The judge, Jude Obiora, while delivering judgement, ruled that the sentences will run concurrently, bringing the total number of years of sentence to two.
The judge further held that since Mr Nwangwu had already spent 13 months in detention at the Agunechemba facility in Awka, he would serve only 11 months at a correctional facility in Awka.
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