Chike Ibezim, the Anambra State indigene the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) illegally detained for 75 days, has been released.

@IruefiNG, Ibezim’s brother, confirmed his release on Thursday morning.

“Let me quickly announce that my brother Chike Ibezim who has been unlawfully detained in FCID for 75 days for a ‘crime’ he didn’t commit and knows absolutely nothing of has been finally freed and is home now. Details shortly,” Iruefi posted on X.

The NPF had ignored multiple calls for Ibezim’s release, even after the Federal High Court, Abuja, ordered his release.

READ MORE: Despite Court Orders to Release Chike Ibezim, Police Keep Him in Custody Over Report on Fashola

The NPF arrested Ibezim, a relative of the online blog Reportera’s publisher, on August 10, claiming his phone was the registered mobile device used to post Reportera’s publication on Babatunde Fashola, Nigeria’s former minister of works and power, getting involved in the presidential election petition tribunal’s judgment.

The NPF released two statements in September claiming that Ibezim’s detention was not illegal.

“Mr. Chike is in lawful custody based on a court order, and his detention is in connection with a prima facie case of malicious publication, cyberbullying and other related offences that are still under investigation by the Police. The arrest and detention of individuals are carried out in strict adherence to legal procedures and respect for individual rights,” Adejobi stated on September 3.

“In this case, a court order was obtained following a thorough investigation, which established an indictment on Mr Chike, who has given useful information and is assisting the Police in the course of their investigation.”

Two days after, Adejobi signed another statement on behalf of the NPF which confirmed Fashola’s role in Ibezim’s arrest.

READ ALSO: Police Arrest Facebook User Chioma Egodi Jnr for Review on Erisco Foods’ Tomato Paste

Adejobi’s statement on the lawfulness of Ibezim’s detention in September was false. A high court had ordered the police to release or charge him in a court days before that statement.

On August 30, Justice Adelaja of the FCT High Court in Kubwa, Abuja, ordered the NPF to either release Ibezim or charge him in a court with immediate effect.

The NPF simply refused to comply with the order of the court. K. Okafor, Ibezim’s lawyer, appeared before Justice Adelaja on September 9 to inform her of the NPF’s statement.

Justice Adelaja said that her earlier order was “in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria with particular reference to section 35(4) and 35(5) of that constitution.

“The respondents (the police) are mandated to obey the order of this court granted on 30 August 2023,” the judge said. She also said that in the event they failed to comply with the order, Mr Ibezim’s lawyer was “free to take the necessary enforcement procedural steps.”