The Governor of Abia State, Theodore Orji, was on Friday described in scathing terms by a Federal High Court Judge in Lagos for having a hand in the arrest of Ebere Wabara who is the associate editor of The Sun Newspapers.

Mr. Wabara, who is also the Special Assistant, Media, to Orji Uzor Kalu, former Abia State governor, was whisked out of his home in March 2014 by police officers from the Abia State Police Command in the presence of his wife and two kids.

The abduction was orchestrated by Governor Theodore Orji who was hell bent on extracting his pound of flesh from Ebere Wabara and Chuks Onuoha (both of The Sun Newspapers) for writing critical articles against his administration.

In his ruling on Friday, Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court said the Abia State Governor has to grow up and realize that the country now operates a democracy.

“The governor should realize that we are in a democratic era, which guarantees freedom of speech,” Mr. Abang said. “Journalists have their role to play and whenever anybody feels aggrieved by their action, the way to deal with them has been spelt out by the constitution of the country. The action of the governor is barbaric, archaic, unconstitutional, undemocratic.”

In 2014, police officers from the State Criminal Investigation Department in Umuahia, invaded Mr. Wabara’s home between 6.30 a.m. and 7.30 a.m.

He was first taken to Sholoki Police Station in Aguda, Surulere, then to Oyingbo Police Station; both in Lagos.

Mrs Adanna Wabara, narrated how her husband was abducted.

“Shortly after, I heard him shouting, and I ran downstairs,” Mrs. Wabara said. “I saw between seven and eight men, who said they were policemen. They said he needed to follow them to Umuahia, that there was a petition against him for sedition.

“They took us back into the house, one of them brought out an I.D Card, showing that he was a policeman. They requested to search our bedroom.  They did, and collected my husband’s laptop and telephone.

“I followed as they took him to Sholoki Police Station, but later, I had to take the children to school. By the time I returned, they had moved him away. His phones could not be reached, and he had not eaten.”

Femi Adesina, editor-in-chief of The Sun said after the abduction;

“The Sun Publishing Limited sees the abduction of Mr Wabara obviously on the orders of the Abia State Commissioner of Police, Mr Adamu Ibrahim, and perhaps under the further instruction of the state governor, Chief T. A. Orji, as a throwback to the dark days of military dictatorship, when might was right, and the strong trampled on the weak.

“It is unconscionable, repressive and flies in the face of all that is decent and civil. It has all the trappings of autocracy, rather than democracy.

“If Mr Wabara infringed any law, we would have expected the police to invite him to answer questions, and then charge him to court.  The approach that has been adopted is Gestapo-like, and unbecoming of those who instigated it.

“Those entrusted with the upholding of the law are not expected to trample on others. This is what the policemen from Abia State have done, and it runs contrary to the code of conduct for policemen as espoused by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Dikko Abubakar.”

Governor Theodore Orji has a reputation for repressing free speech in Abia State and has recently been in the business of deploying thugs to physically beat up supporters of Alex Otti who is squaring up against his stooge, Okezie Ikpeazu, in the Abia governorship race.

The court also granted the reliefs sought by the traumatized journalists. They were also awarded monetary reliefs.