- …as DIG Mbu demand release of CSP George Onah Ogar’s widow
By Frank Ulom
The detention and remand of Mrs Beatrice Ogar, widow of late police officer CSP George Onah Ogar, has sparked controversy, with retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG Joseph Mbu (Rtd), calling on the Inspector General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, to order her immediate release and investigate officers involved in the case.
Investigation by Converseer revealed that Mrs Ogar, and Mr Sunday Obi Ntui, a land agent, is currently being held at the Afokang Correctional Centre, following a remand order obtained after their detention at Zone 6 Police Command, Calabar, Cross River State.
Court documents obtained by Converseer show a remand warrant was requested by the Nigeria Police Force from the Magistrate Court at Ikot Eneyo, Akpabuyo, with charge numbers: HC/MSC 14/2026 and MSC/IKE/14/2026, to remand Mrs Beatrice Ogar and Mr Sunday Obi Ntui.
The remand warrant dated June 5, 2026, and duly signed by the Magistrate, ordered that Mrs Ogar and Mr Ntui be kept in prison until June 22, 2026, the day of the hearing of the case.
The case stems from a disputed land transaction involving a buyer, Mr Olajide Adesakin Olalude, who allegedly paid N60 million for a plot of land belonging to Mrs Ogar’s late husband.
Speaking on the matter, Mbu said he was deeply disturbed after receiving a distress call from Mrs Ogar on June 7.
The retired police chief described the widow as the wife of his late coursemate, CSP George Onah Ogar, who served as Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of Lagos State Command and later as Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Ketu before his death in active service.
According to Mbu, Mrs Ogar informed him that she had been detained for eight days at Zone 6 Police Command over a land transaction involving property she sold to raise money for her children’s education.
He questioned why the matter, which he described as a civil dispute, resulted in prolonged detention.
“I screamed. What is happening?” Mbu recalled.
He said he immediately reached out to senior officers within Zone 6, including the Principal Staff Officer (PSO) to the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) overseeing the zone, urging that the widow be released pending further investigation.
Mbu alleged that despite assurances that efforts were being made, the suspects were instead remanded at Afokang without a court hearing.
According to him, officers hurriedly obtained a remand warrant after learning that he had become involved in the matter.
“They were in the police detention centre for eight days without warrant and nothing. When they knew that I entered the matter, they rushed to get a warrant from the Magistrate Court in Akpabuyo to remand Mrs Beatrice Ogar,” he said.
The retired DIG argued that the dispute centred on a land sale and should not have warranted prolonged detention.
“It is a land matter, it is not a criminal thing,” he said.
Mbu further accused officers at Zone 6 of misconduct and called for a sweeping review of personnel within the command.
“I want the IG to hear it. They should remove everybody from the AIG down. They should sweep all of them from Zone 6,” he stated.
Barrister Philomena Egodo, speaking on behalf of the defence team led by Chief Eja Tawo, SAN, alleged that due process was not followed in obtaining the remand order.
Egodo said she was first invited to Zone 6 after Mrs Ogar’s arrest and was informed that the dispute arose after a buyer (Mr Olalude) who had purchased the property later demanded a refund.
According to her, the land transaction had been completed with agreements signed by all parties and ownership verified through Cross River State Property Investment Limited (CROSPIL).
She explained that the buyer paid N60 million for the property and an additional N5 million for documentation processing.
“The land was sold last year. Papers were given to him. There was an agreement to that effect,” she said.
Egodo maintained that CROSPIL officials had confirmed that the land belonged to Mrs Ogar’s late husband and authorised the transaction.
She alleged that delays in processing final title documents by the CROSPIL office contributed significantly to the dispute.
“The CROSPIL Manager was supposed to give them a document transferring that title to the new buyer. He confirmed the property belonged to them and told them to go ahead with the transaction,” she said.
According to the lawyer, the property had previously been the subject of litigation initiated by members of the deceased officer’s extended family.
She noted that the matter was eventually struck out by the court for want of diligent prosecution after the parties challenging the sale failed to pursue the case.
“The court struck out that matter. The children had already consented to the sale and had no issue with it,” Egodo stated.
Egodo’s most serious allegations concerned the process through which the suspects were remanded.
She claimed Mrs Ogar and the other suspects were held in police custody for several days before a remand order was secured from a Magistrate Court sitting in Ikot Eneyo, Akpabuyo.
According to her, the order was obtained without the suspects first being properly presented before the court.
“The proper procedure is that they were supposed to bring them before the court, file papers, take them to court, and then the normal process of asking whether they are guilty or not guilty takes place,” she said.
Adding, “But they bypassed all those processes.”
Egodo further alleged that lawyers initially struggled to determine which court issued the remand order and only discovered its origin after conducting independent investigations.
She claimed that when members of the defence team later met the magistrate, they were advised to file an application seeking the discharge of the remand order.
“When we met with the magistrate, he asked us to bring another application so that they would discharge that order, which means it was not gotten rightly,” she alleged.
The lawyer also questioned the criminalisation of what she described as a commercial dispute.
According to her, all parties involved, including the buyer, the seller, the agent and the CROSPIL manager, had gathered to discuss outstanding documentation issues when police officers intervened and arrested them.
“The buyer, the seller, the agent and the CROSPIL Manager were all together trying to find a solution when the police were brought in and they were arrested,” she said.
Responding to the allegations, Zone 6 Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Jefferson Osupe, denied claims of injustice or unlawful detention.
Osupe said the case originated from a complaint lodged by Mr Olajide Adesakin Olalude, who alleged that the suspects obtained money from him under false pretences.
According to the police spokesman, the complainant paid N60 million in June 2025 for the property after a deed of assignment was executed.
He said the buyer was promised ownership documents but had not received them by the time he filed his complaint in May 2026.
Osupe further stated that the complainant encountered resistance when he attempted to commence development on the property.
“He decided to go to the land and mould blocks, but some people attacked him. It turned out to be members of the family of the woman who sold the property,” he said.
The police spokesman insisted that investigators were focusing on allegations of obtaining money under false pretences rather than ownership of the land itself.
“The police is not handling any case relating to the land, knowing fully well that it is a civil matter. He reported obtaining money under false pretence, which is a criminal offence. That is what the police is looking at,” Osupe stated.
He added that a magistrate court order formed part of the legal basis for the arrests and subsequent remand of the suspects.
The matter is expected to be before the court later this month (June 22) as lawyers representing Mrs Ogar continue efforts to challenge the remand order and secure the release of the suspects.
