Chinedu Agu
Uncharacteristically, I am going to be very brief. Not because I have suddenly learned to be brief overnight, but because of physical exhaustion from long hours of detention at the police station today, and mental exhaustion from the weight of my disappointment in this profession of ours, which my experience today has further exposed.
Recall that I had indicated earlier this morning that I received a call from an Assistant Commissioner of Police inviting me over a petition that warranted my seeing the CP “very, very urgently.”
To cut a very long story short.
On getting to the SIB Unit with scores of lawyers whom I shall leave unnamed, I was handed over to the X-Squad Unit of the police [this same X-Squad of September 2025]. One of the IPOs from the previous matter, with whom I have become close, asked, “Why you again?” And I retorted cheerfully, “No, it should rather be your unit again.”
Now, the summary is that Dr. Mazi Udegbulem, the kleptomaniac Chairman of NBA Owerri [and I chose this adjective very deliberately, and it will not amount to defamation because I have overwhelming pieces of evidence which, should he challenge me, I will make available in the public domain], had procured the services of Godson Killiwe-Nwachukwu, Esq. to write a petition against me bordering on impersonation and conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace.
I was saddened that, of all lawyers in Nigeria, of all lawyers in Imo State, of all lawyers in Owerri, and of all lawyers in NBA Owerri, it was Godson Killihim-Nwachukwu who decided to allow himself to be used as _nkita eji achu ohia_ – The hunter’s dog.
What shocked me was that the very first paragraph of his petition introduces him as a financially up-to-date member of NBA Owerri, whereas Mr. Killihim not only affixed a fake stamp to his petition but also affixed same with a very weak gum. To add insult to injury, the fake stamp expired in March 2020, suggesting that the last time Killihim paid his practising fee, Branch dues and welfare levies might have been in 2019.
I shall not go into the merits of his petition, since I have given a rare promise of brevity, but I must interrogate why Dr. Mazi continues to make deliberate efforts to frustrate any gathering where questions of accountability would be raised.
What is the Chairman of NBA Owerri hiding? Why has he procured the police to keep me behind bars and frustrate the requisitioned meeting of tomorrow? Why does he not want the meeting to hold tomorrow? Why does Dr. Udegbulem not want lawyers to gather tomorrow and ask questions about NBA funds that he allegedly misappropriated?
To think that one man who I have never seen in any meeting of NBA Owerri and who is not a financial member will raise a petition against an Extra-ordinary General Meeting requisitioned by 183 members [as at 2 October but 257 members by today] is shocking. How is Killihim wiser than over 200 members who are agitating for the crisis in NBA Owerri to be resolved through a meeting tomorrow.
And I suspect—and I am, of course, entitled to my personal opinion—that but for seniors Dec Madu and Chidi Nworka, who spent several hours with me at the police station until late this night when I was granted bail, I probably would be cooling off in one of those sleazy cells, in my boxers and bare body, like the other time. Many other senior members of the Bar who accompanied me [whose names I shall deliberately leave unmentioned] also stayed until the very end of the long ordeal. [Very special thanks to Prof. Chidi Odinkalu for escalating the situation through his X-handle].
What I experienced today at the police station made me understand one thing: as a society, we are not ready for conversations on accountability. As a people, we are just very unserious about serious conversations around probity. And, as lawyers, cronyism has been enthroned.
The roles played by different protagonists in my invitation and detention have been duly noted. But I must confess that I have lost respect for many individuals whom I had erroneously held in high esteem.
The signs have always been there, right from 27 June 2026. But what I witnessed today has left me firmly convinced that Dr. Mazi Udegbulem has successfully and gleefully handed this our NBA over to the executive arm. And what a shame!
As a society, as an association, we have a much bigger problem on our hands. For when those who should be the foremost defenders of the rule of law become subservient to the very powers they are duty-bound to hold accountable, the implications go far beyond the Nigerian Bar Association.
For NBA Owerri, we are finished!!!
*Chinedu Agu*
Returnee from X-Squad detention
9 October 2026
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