A medical doctor, Michael Nweze, has accused the Deputy Inspector-General, Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Joseph Egbunike, of obstructing the criminal investigation of an Anambra State judge, Ifeanyi Nweze.
Michael had accused the judge, who is his brother, of illegally taking over their late father’s property, adding that two police investigations had established a prima facie case of forgery and criminal conversion of property against his younger sibling.
The doctor, in his petition to the Minister of Police Affairs dated January 31, 2022, claimed that Egbunike directed his men to shelve the two investigations, which allegedly indicted the judge, and commenced a fresh probe.
The petition titled, ‘The corruption and impunity of DIG Joseph Egbunike and the damage to the reputation of the Nigeria Police’, disclosed that the Special Fraud Unit of the police had, after a thorough investigation, released a legal opinion that established a prima facie case of forgery and criminal conversion of property against Justice Nweze.
The petitioner stated, “I was at the office of the Force Intelligence Bureau, Area 10, on January 26, 2022 to honour their invitation. They had earlier told me on the phone that they were harmonising the files, which turned out to be false.
“In order to accomplish the threat by DIG Joseph Egbunike to rubbish a completed investigation with a legal opinion and to abort a nearly completed follow-up investigation, while commencing a fresh one against me, the FIB was ordered to shelve the two investigations by the SFU and the Legal Department, and embark on a new one against me and in all likelihood with a predetermined outcome.”
Under the guise of reconciliation, Michael said Egbunike sought to protect the judge “he described as a friend.”
“Failing to bully me and my lawyers, he made good his threat to rubbish the completed investigation by the SFU and its legal opinion and truncated the nearly completed follow-up investigation by the legal department,” the petitioner further stated.
Michael also alleged that the DIG threatened to charge him for allegedly providing false information to the police, adding that he also blackmailed his lawyers for refusing to sabotage the case.
“He (Egbunike) declared to me and my lawyer that the ongoing investigation and any forensic audit would put the judge in trouble. He swore to protect the suspect and secure his ascent to the position of Chief Judge of Anambra State and eventually to the Supreme Court,” the petition added.
Michael prayed that the police legal department should be allowed to complete the ongoing investigation as directed by the Inspector-General of Police without the involvement of Egbunike “in order to guarantee an untainted investigation and report.”
Egbunike could not be reached for comments on Saturday as his line was unreachable. He had yet to respond to a text message seeking his reaction to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.
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