Port Harcourt politician Ikpe Precious Umasoye has drawn major public attention after announcing that he is currently being held at the Port Harcourt Correctional Facility over two defamation cases filed against him.
In a post shared on his social media page, Precious opened with an emotional message to his followers, writing, “Greetings my friends. I am going through the hardest of times.” He explained that he is facing two court cases filed collectively by the Eze Igbu-Ehuda of Ahoada Kingdom and Hon. Dame Queen Williams, both accusing him of defamation.
According to Precious, the court refused him bail and granted an application from the complainants to have him detained until his next court appearance. “Bail was refused as the court granted an application from them to detain me till February 16th when I will appear again in court,” he wrote.
Lamenting his situation, the politician added, “Nigeria has happened to me and I have learnt.” He disclosed that several influential figures had attempted to intervene on his behalf. “Religious leaders, political leaders and family have also tried to reach out for out-of-court settlements but parties haven’t responded,” he said.
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Precious also revealed that he has exhausted almost all his savings in the course of following legal and court proceedings. “I have spent almost all I have… Currently I am out of funds,” he wrote.
In what he described as his first public plea for help, he appealed for financial support from well-wishers. “I have never begged for anything publicly before. Please, whatever you have, send to this my account directly,” he said, adding that donations would go towards his welfare, legal fees, logistics for his lawyers and healthcare.
However, the narrative took a sharp turn after Brian Jonah Dennis, a popular Port Harcourt philanthropist and entrepreneur, reshared Precious’ post with a strong caption. Brian alleged that the politician’s predicament was self-inflicted. “Because of political differences, this brother went on Facebook Live to claim that he slept with someone’s wife. He even mentioned the hotel and room number,” Brian wrote.
He added that this was only part of a pattern of troubling claims. “This is in addition to other insane allegations he made,” Brian stated, before dismissing Precious’ account of events. “Nigeria did not happen to you. You happened to yourself.”
