A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has ordered that a bench warrant it issued against Walter Ubaka Okeke, a former a former governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State, be published in national newspapers over allegations of stealing oil servicing materials valued at ₦800 million.
The materials allegedly belong to Ifeanyi Amaonye, a Port Harcourt-based businessman who reportedly rented space from Okeke to store the items.
Justice Chinwendu Nwogu of the Rivers State High Court gave the order on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, while ruling on an oral application by the Rivers State Attorney-General in The State v. Walter Ubaka Okeke, Charge No. PHC/924/CR/2023.
The application, presented by Chidi Eke, Deputy Director in the Department of Public Prosecution, Rivers State Ministry of Justice, sought leave to publish a bench warrant issued against Okeke in 2023.
The defence counsel, E.S. Ekene, opposed the application, arguing that it should have been brought by a motion on notice. However, Justice Nwogu ruled that the oral application was in order.
Tracing the history of the warrant, the judge noted that Okeke had appealed against it but had not appeared to face the charges. He held that publication was necessary to facilitate the defendant’s arrest and bring him before the court.
The court ordered that Okeke be apprehended anywhere in the world and brought to the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre. The case was adjourned until November 30, 2026.
Okeke’s counsel was absent when the ruling was delivered, having informed the court the previous day that he had a crowded schedule in other courts.
Speaking to journalists outside the courtroom, Eke said the order would help the prosecution secure Okeke’s arrest after he allegedly travelled to the United Kingdom and evaded execution of the warrant.
“Today, the court has granted our application to publish a bench warrant earlier issued against him before he disappeared to the United Kingdom, evading appearance or rather concealing himself to frustrate that bench warrant from being executed.
So today, the court has granted us order, leave of court, to publish the said bench warrant in any number of the national dailies, so that every effort would be made to have him arrested and brought before the court on the next adjourned date, being November 30, 2026.”
Eke said publication would alert the public and relevant authorities that Okeke was wanted by the court.
“And that he is a fugitive in the eyes of the law. It is also a declaration that the law will go to any length to have him arrested anywhere in the world.
Once this order is registered with the appropriate authorities, and they see that publication in the newspaper confirming that indeed the court issued that order and granted the leave that it should be published in the national dailies anywhere he is, they’ll fish him out and produce him before the court.”
The prosecutor said the case demonstrated that political status and social standing could not place anyone above the law.
“It doesn’t matter what office you occupy, it doesn’t matter what name you bear, it doesn’t matter your status in society; the law is the law, and the law will take its course. If you go contrary to the law, the law will come after you. It doesn’t matter how long—there is no limitation to prosecution. If you run away, whenever we get you, we resume.”
Describing the case as a warning to influential people, Eke said prosecution and punishment were intended to deter others from committing crimes.
“The whole essence of prosecution and punishment is deterrence. The most important thing that punishment does when judgment is obtained against a defendant is deterrence.”
“It’s for once those who have that penchant to commit crime to say stay away from crime. It doesn’t pay; otherwise, you’ll be humiliated at the end of the day.”
That is the whole essence of the law in a sane society, which was what we are trying to make Nigeria to look like, where law speaks and where no persons will be seen in the society as above the law. Nobody is above the law.”
Eke however urged Okeke to surrender and return to court, saying he could pursue any legal relief through the judicial process.
“The process is for him to appear before the court. Any relief he seeks can only be when he is before the court. But the idea of trying to frustrate the course of justice by making himself unavailable to stand trial for many years now is wrong. He even went on appeal, and that appeal was dismissed. He didn’t follow it up with further appeal, yet, he doesn’t want to appear before the High Court that made an order that he should come.
If people should continue to be allowed to do that, then there is no law. The law would end up being a mockery. The law is the law and is above everybody. If the law says appear, you have to appear. Even as a lawyer talking, if I go contrary to the law, if I find myself on the wrong side of the law, this gown and wig that I’m wearing will not come to my aid. It will even be worse that I am a lawyer who knows the law, that I should have known better not to go or be on the wrong side of the law, but always work within the ambit of the law.”
The case arose from a storage arrangement between Amaonye, a supplier of oil servicing materials to the hydrocarbon industry, and Okeke, who allegedly allowed him to keep the materials in a vacant section of his compound in the Trans-Amadi area of Port Harcourt.
According to the prosecution’s account, Amaonye had substantial quantities of materials exposed along the road and needed a secure place to store them. He was introduced to Okeke, who initially agreed to provide space free of charge. The arrangement later became a tenancy after Okeke allegedly began demanding rent.
The dispute escalated when Amaonye reportedly learnt that trucks were removing his materials from the premises. His representatives allegedly encountered armed men guarding the evacuation, while Okeke was accused of claiming ownership of the items.
About eight truckloads had reportedly been removed, with some of the materials allegedly sold. The disagreement prompted both parties to seek intervention from the police and military. The police subsequently identified Amaonye as the owner of the materials, according to the account provided, and Okeke was arrested and charged before a Chief Magistrate’s Court presided over by Amadi Nnah.
The Rivers State Government later took over the prosecution and transferred the case to the High Court, terminating the proceedings at the Magistrate’s Court.
Okeke was reportedly detained at the Correctional Centre at an earlier stage of the case to ensure his attendance in court. Okeke challenged the High Court’s bench warrant on appeal, delaying further proceedings in the criminal case. He also filed a fundamental human rights suit while the prosecution was ongoing.
According to the case background, Okeke won the fundamental human rights suit, but the Rivers State Government is appealing that decision. His separate appeal against the bench warrant was dismissed, leaving the warrant in force. The State subsequently sought permission to publish the warrant in national newspapers to assist efforts to locate and apprehend him, including through relevant security agencies and possible international cooperation.
The criminal case is scheduled to resume on November 30, 2026.
