The legal battles between US-based lawyer Emeka Ugwuonye and the Nigerian Government appear destined to continue for much longer. Indication to this effect came this evening in a letter which Ugwuonye wrote to his friends in which he vowed never to give up. Says Ugwuonye (shown in photo) in the letter posted on his facebook wall:  

MY DEAR FRIENDS
Your words (as in your inboxes to me) have encouraged me greatly, and your friendship means a lot to me. Even in this new age of friendship, you have shown me such deep affection and support and an abiding commitment to the truth.

Now I promise you one thing: I will not let you down. It is not easy for one man to fight a whole government. But I had no choice. They did not even allow me to run. Instead, they encircled me with a certain determination that they would walk over me. And whenever you are encircled, the only option is to fight. I was not going to bend over and get raped viciously. I will fight every inch of the ground. I will fight shameless, ignoble and most corrupt officials in the world.

They have used every weapon they have. They took me to an American Bar for me to be disciplined, and they were told that I did nothing wrong. They went to the office of the Maryland Attorney General, and they told them that I did nothing wrong. They went to the office of the DC General Counsel with a complaint against me, and they told them that I did nothing wrong. They went to the US Justice Department, and there they told them that I did nothing wrong. They all told the Government of Nigeria: “You signed an Agreement with Mr. Ugwuonye. If you disagree on what the Agreement said, go to a civil court, which will interpret the Agreement between the two of you.”

They finally went to the civil court in Washington. But they were afraid they might lose there. So, they decided to abduct me and detain me in Nigeria while the civil case was going on in Washington. Can you imagine? They wanted me to not show up in court so that they would win the case like a walkover. Can you imagine a whole government playing such a dirty game? But that’s your government.

My enemies have used detention. They have used propaganda and lies through Sahara Reporters, and now Premium Times, to smear me. But you can ask one question; only one question: When it comes to American law, whom do you believe? Sahara Reporters or an American Bar? The lawyers that regulate the Bar of Washington DC have said that after examining all the documents, Emeka Ugwuonye DID NOT do anything wrong. Is it their interpretation of the law that you would follow or Sahara Reporters’ interpretation of the law? LOL. Only a Naija person would hesitate to answer this question.

My friends, I am here to answer any question about anything that I did. I am an open book. People often wonder why I am willing to share everything about my life. I tell them that my openness and my transparency are my shield and my cover. My openness provides an armor with which I protect myself from lies, smear and slander. Because I have the truth out there for everybody to see, those who choose to lie against me cannot get far. And that was how you knew immediately that Malam Sani Tukur, the publisher of Premium Times was either drunk or badly induced when he published a story saying that a court ordered me to refund money that I had stolen. Also, that was how you knew that Ambassador Adefuye was unfit for his position when he began to celebrate the conspiracy they had against me.

The fact that you have a website does not give you the power to lie against me. The fact that people have been reading your website and were deceived into taking you seriously does not mean that you are God and that you could try to destroy people and demand money from them. I would fight Sahara Reporters rather than pay them blackmail money. They will lose in the end.