Veteran actor, Chiwetalu Agu, says his journey to the custody of the Department of State Services didn’t start well but that he was treated with respect by both Nigerian Army and Department of State Services (DSS) personnel.
Agu, who spoke during a welcome party organised by the Actors Guild of Nigeria for him, narrated that officials of the DSS jostled to handle his case.
He was released from Army custody last Friday, a day after he was arrested for putting on an outfit with semblance to the Biafran flag.
According to him, “it didn’t start well but God took control. I was only buying bread for the poor. Soldiers came in and started scattering things.
“They said they are calling me in the office but they did not tell me my offence. Because they did not tell me my offence, I refused to follow them.
“That drama that took place was important so that they will know that Igbo are here. That moment of Upper Iweka till the time we got to the army barracks close to Zik Mausoleum, to 82 Division of the Nigerian Army and to DSS office in Abuja, nobody touched me. They treated me with respect.
“Every officer wanted to be involved in the case so that they can have opportunity to interact with Chiwetalu Agu.”
Asked by journalists if anything incriminating was found in his phone, the actor said: “I’m a child of God, I’m not a criminal all they saw in my phone was all about God, humanity and nothing incriminating.
“They interviewed me for a whole day, the senior army officers were civil and did not get anything that was incriminating from my phone before they handed me over to DSS.
“They didn’t manhandle me till I got to Abuja office where I stayed for two days.”
The veteran actor was arrested by personnel of the Army around Upper Iweka Bridge in Onitsha for wearing an outfit with Biafra inscriptions while he was on a charity mission to the less privileged where he was distributing bread to the poor.
The Nigerian Army in a statement said that the actor was arrested “while inciting members of the public and soliciting for support for the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra”.