THE Action Peoples Party (APP) has raised the alarm over an alleged plan by the Chairmen of Ideato North and Ideato South Local Government Areas in Imo State, Chukwunonso Okpareke and Okwara Okechukwu, also known as Morocco, to demolish campaign and solidarity billboards belonging to House of Representatives member Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere and other APP candidates, despite a subsisting court order restraining such action.
News Point Nigeria reports that the party described the alleged plan as illegal and provocative, warning that it could lead to a breach of public peace. It said the affected billboards, including those belonging to Ugochinyere, APP candidates in the Ideato North and South State Assembly constituencies and APP senatorial candidate Hon. Rufus Omeire, as well as solidarity billboards for heads of security agencies, had been validly approved, fully paid for and legally installed.
The warning was contained in a statement signed by Hon. Charles Okafor, APP and GDF Ideato Federal Constituency Media Coordinator, who said the party had drawn the attention of security agencies and the public to what it described as an impending criminal action by the two council chairmen. He said the receipts for payments made to the Imo State Government signage agency, the court order protecting the billboards and the acknowledgment copy of the petition to the security agencies were available as evidence.
According to Okafor, the alleged plan is to destroy the billboards within the next five days, despite valid orders of the court barring such action. He said the billboards had been fully paid for as required by the Imo State signage agency law, which is responsible for approving billboard locations, collecting revenues and carrying out other regulatory functions.
The APP media coordinator said the affected installations include solidarity billboards for security agencies, campaign billboards for the APP, billboards for the party’s Ideato South and Ideato North State House of Assembly candidates, Ogugua Mbadiwe and Marcus Ibekwe, respectively, as well as those of APP Ideato Federal Constituency candidate Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere and APP senatorial candidate Hon. Rufus Omeire.
He said the receipts for the billboard payments made to the signage agency, the court order prohibiting anyone from touching the billboards and the acknowledgment copy of the petition bringing the alleged planned criminal action to the attention of security agencies had also been attached.
“Our security agencies and our people are also informed of this notice to ensure that no criminal element engages in the illegal destruction of the billboards, which have all been legitimately paid for and installed by law, and to ensure that no one violates the order of the Court in any capacity,” Okafor said.
He added that if the affected persons felt aggrieved by the court order, they should approach the court that issued it to appeal against the decision rather than resorting to self-help.
“Our lawyers have also been put on standby to commence criminal contempt actions against anyone who destroys our legitimate billboards, and to institute a personal suit for financial damages against anyone who authorizes or engages in their destruction,” he said.
Okafor further urged the security agencies, acting on the information and tip-off, to do the needful to prevent a breakdown of law and order.
He alleged that the perpetrators, led by the Chairman of Ideato North LGA, whom he identified as Nonso Okparaeke, and the Ideato South chairman, had already started defacing the billboards with what he described as illegal notices demanding payments that had already been made and which, he argued, were not within their rights to demand.
He also alleged that the action amounted to a violation of the court order and called for the apprehension and prosecution of those involved to prevent the planned action from escalating into a breach of public peace.
The APP statement came against the backdrop of an interim injunction issued by the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja restraining the Imo State Government, various security agencies and the chairmen of Ideato North and Ideato South LGAs from interfering with Ugochinyere’s rallies, meetings and other civic activities, as well as from destroying or removing his billboards.
The federal lawmaker had filed the suit after the Imo State Government issued a directive through a letter dated June 15, 2026, limiting him to a maximum of six billboards in his Ideato North and South Federal Constituency ahead of the 2027 general election.
Justice Kayode Agunloye issued the interim injunction on July 20 following an ex parte application filed by Ugochinyere through his lawyer, Chibuzor Ezike, in Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/153/2026. The order was signed by the judge and authenticated by the court registrar, Hannatu Simon.
Ugochinyere, a member of the opposition Action Peoples Party, represents Ideato North/South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
Although the lawmaker was listed as the sole claimant, 11 defendants were identified in the suit. They included the Nigeria Police Force, the Inspector-General of Police, the State Security Service (SSS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, the Imo State Signage and Advertisement Agency, the chairpersons of Ideato North and Ideato South LGAs, the Commissioner of Police in Imo State, the Director of the SSS in the state and the Imo State Command of the NSCDC.
In the interim order, Justice Agunloye restrained the defendants, their agents, officers, staff or anyone acting on their behalf from “destroying, dismantling, defacing, cutting down or ordering the removal and/or demolition” of billboards and signage installed by Ugochinyere across the Ideato North and South Federal Constituency of Imo State.
The judge also barred the defendants from “stopping, barring, denying access to, sealing off or preventing the Claimant and/or his supporters” from using venues for peaceful rallies, processions, campaigns, meetings and other civic activities within the Ideato Federal Constituency or elsewhere in Imo State pending the determination of the motion on notice.
He equally restrained the defendants from breaching or violating Ugochinyere’s “inalienable rights to expression, peaceful assembly, and movement or to erect or install signage or billboards within Ideato Federal Constituency or Imo State” for any reason.
The court also restrained the security agencies listed as defendants from “giving effect to, enforcing, carrying out or implementing the letter dated 15 June 2026 or any other such letter(s)” restricting the number of the lawmaker’s billboards to six.
The security agencies were further restrained from providing security cover for anyone seeking to destroy or remove the billboards in furtherance of the June 15 letter.
Justice Agunloye ordered an accelerated hearing of the substantive suit and directed that the originating summons, hearing notices and other court processes be served on the relevant defendants through specified offices, including the office of the Attorney-General of Imo State, the Legal Department of the Nigeria Police Force, the SSS headquarters and the NSCDC headquarters in Abuja.
The court subsequently adjourned the matter until July 28 to hear the motion on notice for an interlocutory injunction.
News Point Nigeria gathered that when the matter came up on July 28, the court maintained that the defendants were still within the time allowed by law to file their responses and were therefore entitled to be heard in defence of the suit.
However, Ugochinyere, through his lawyer, urged the court to extend the interim order through the court’s vacation period, arguing that the defendants were not ready to proceed with the interlocutory injunction motion.
In his ruling, Justice Agunloye extended the interim order to remain in force until the next adjourned date and further adjourned the case to November 4 for hearing.
Against this background, Okafor maintained that any attempt to destroy, dismantle or deface the billboards would amount to a violation of the subsisting court order and would attract legal consequences.
“The Electoral law forbids this kind of behavior, which cannot make anyone popular. The signage law also forbids this, and the Court has also restrained these people. Any act of aggression against our property will be treated as a purely criminal action, involving those who act outside the law, with its attendant consequences,” he said.
The APP media coordinator therefore called on the security agencies to intervene before the alleged plan could trigger a breakdown of law and order, insisting that the party’s billboards had been legitimately paid for, approved and installed.