By Sahara Reporters
Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, has firmly denied any involvement in the arrest and ongoing prosecution of investigative journalist, Tega Oghenedoro, popularly known as Fejiro Oliver, over alleged cyberstalking.
Oliver, through his counsel and human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, Esq. of Inibehe Effiong Chambers, Abuja, had instituted a ₦1 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit against Governor Oborevwori, Senator Ede Dafinone, and Stella Okotete, Executive Director (Business Development) of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM). The suit, filed at the Federal High Court 2 in Asaba, alleges violations of his rights to human dignity, personal liberty, privacy, and freedom of movement.
Also joined in the suit marked ASAB/CS/164/2025 are the Inspector-General of Police, the Delta State Commissioner of Police, the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), DCP Adegoke Alani, and CSP Solomon Nwokolo.
The matter, which came up on October 4, 2025, has been adjourned to November 4, 2025 for further hearing before Justice Olufunmilola A. Agbaje.
In a counter affidavit filed on October 8, 2025, Governor Oborevwori, through his counsel, denied ordering or instigating Oliver’s arrest and detention. The document, deposed to by Oghenechavwuko Agbatutu, a Senior State Counsel in the chambers of the Delta State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, reads in part:
“As to paragraph 14 (e) of the affidavit in support of the application, the 1st respondent did not order, instigate, or commence any process leading to the arrest and detention of the applicant. As to paragraph 14 (j), the 1st respondent did not instigate or cause the police to arrest and detain the applicant as alleged.”
The governor’s legal team, led by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ekemejero Ohwovoriole (SAN); Solicitor-General Omamuzo Erebe (SAN); and Sunday Monye, Esq., Director of Civil Litigation, further argued in their written address that there is no evidence linking the governor to Oliver’s arrest.
They maintained that the journalist’s claims are hinged solely on paragraph 14 (e) of his supporting affidavit without substantiation, adding that citizens cannot be held liable for merely reporting alleged crimes to the police:
“It is the duty of citizens to report allegations of crimes to the police for investigation, and what happens thereafter is entirely the responsibility of the police. There is no cogent evidence before this Honourable Court to show that the 1st respondent breached the applicant’s fundamental rights in any way,” the governor’s lawyers submitted, urging the court to dismiss the application.
Operatives of the Force Intelligence Department (FID), Abuja, arrested Oliver on September 19, 2025, reportedly on the orders of the state governor. He was picked up at his office in Garki, Abuja, taken to the FID, and subsequently flown to Asaba, the Delta State capital.
The Inspector-General of Police later filed charges against Oliver in Suit No. FHC/ASB/163c/2025, accusing him of cyberstalking Governor Oborevwori and Senator Ede Dafinone through allegedly defamatory Facebook posts. The case, signed by CSP Gladys Imegu, Esq., R.O. Eze, Esq., and Dr. R.O. Ishiguzo, was later amended to two counts.
Justice Olufunmilola A. Agbaje adjourned the matter to October 16, 2025, for a ruling on Oliver’s bail application and ordered his remand at the Ogwashi-Uku Correctional Centre.
Before the arraignment, the Federal High Court in Asaba had issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Nigeria Police Force to justify why Oliver should not be released unconditionally, after he had spent 16 days in detention without trial.
Culled from Sahara Reporters