Below is a statement of claim from Festus Keyamo Chambers. Read below..
1. The Plaintiff is a Commissioner of Police and currently the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The Plaintiff has had a distinguished career having joined the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as the pioneer Director of Operations in 2003 and by dint of hard work and integrity rose to be the Chairman of the anti-graft agency.
2. The Defendant is the Proprietor and Publisherof a popular Newspaper called Daily Sun which enjoys wide circulation andreadership in Nigeria and abroad.
3. The Plaintiff avers that as a function of hisposition, he is at the forefront of the fight against corruption in Nigeria andhe has successfully investigated and prosecuted several corrupt individuals inNigeria.
4. The Plaintiff further avers that as a resultof his exceptional career, he has received several awards and commendationsfrom organizations across the world and is recognized by internationalorganizations as a leading light on Nigeria’s fight against corruption.
5. The Plaintiff further avers that in its DailySun Newspaper of Thursday, 8th October, 2015, the Defendant falselyand maliciously caused to be printed and published the following words of andconcerning the Plaintiff:
“N1TRNLOOTED FUNDS LAMORDE, EFCC BOSS, IN SOUP”
6. The Plaintiff further avers that at page 6 ofits Daily Sun Newspaper of Thursday, 8th October, 2015, theDefendant falsely and maliciously caused to be printed and published thefollowing words of and concerning the Plaintiff as an elaboration of the abovestated headline:
“CHAIRMAN of the Economic and FinancialCrimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Lamorde, is presently being investigated overallegations of diversion of over N1 trillion from the sale of confiscatedproperties belonging to convicted public officials including former governor ofBayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyesiegha and former Inspector General of Police,Tafa Balogun, among many others.
Daily Sun gathered that the Presidency'ssearchlight had actually been on the EFCC following complaints and reports thatEFCC operatives were notoriously letting some financial crimes suspects off thehook rather than prosecute them.
The decision to launch a full-scaleinvestigation, however, started after one George Uboh appeared before theSenate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions on August 23 wherehe alleged that Lamorde dipped his hands into the said funds.
It was gathered that after his appearance atthe Senate, the Presidency picked interest in the matter and directed theOffice of the National Special Adviser (NSA) to commence investigations intothe allegations.
A National Assembly source said thereafter,the NSA, Major General Babagana Monguno (retd) reportedly swung into action.
"Series of complaints against Lamorde ishis perceived slack supervision of his operatives. There have been series ofallegations that operatives collect bribe from suspects and let them off thehook rather than investigate allegations thoroughly.
"This investigation is not awitch-hunt...It is meant to prove beyond reasonable doubt that they are no mereallegations but, they are weighty enough to warrant presidentialscrutiny."
In his petition to the Senate, Uboh said thefraud allegedly perpetrated by Larmode dated back to his days as the Directorof Operations of the EFCC between 2003 and 2007, as well as an acting Chairmanof the commission between June 2007 and May 2008, when the then chairman of theanti-graft agency, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, was away for a course at the NationalInstitute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos.
Uboh, Chief Executive Officer of Panic AlertSecurity Systems, a security firm, in his petition dated July 31 accusedLamorde of some specific instances of under-remittance and non-disclosure ofproceeds of corruption recovered from criminal suspects, including Balogun andAlamieyeseigha.
He assured the Senate that he would produce"overwhelming evidence" to back his claims against Lamorde.
Uboh also alleged that the EFCC had notaccounted for "offshore recoveries" and that "over hall of theassets seized from suspects are not reflected in EFCC exhibit records."
The petitioner equally accused Lamorde ofconspiring with some EFCC officers and external auditors ''to operate andconceal a recovery account in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and excludedthe balances from your audited financial statements between 2005 and2011."
"Lamorde continues to conceal thedetails of the unsold properties forfeited by both Tafa Balogun and DSPAlamieyeseigha despite receiving rent revenues from some estate agents on thesaid properties," he further alleged.”
7. The said words in their natural and ordinarymeaning (by direct reference and innuendos) meant and were understood to meanthat:
(a) ThePlaintiff is a fraudulent and corrupt civil servant who engages in diversion ofmonies belonging to the government.
(b) ThePlaintiff is a bad and corrupt leader who encourages his Operatives to collectbribes from suspects.
(c) ThePlaintiff is a hypocrite whose fraudulent activities date back to 2003 when hewas Director of Operations of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
8. The Plaintiff avers that the libelous publicationby the Defendant was widely circulated and read by millions of people in theworld and particularly in Nigeria where the Plaintiff has several associates,friends, family and professional colleagues.
9. The Plaintiff avers that by reason of thepublication of the words set out in paragraphs 5 and 6 above and their importset out in paragraph 7, the Plaintiff has been seriously injured in hischaracter, credit, reputation and integrity and had been brought to publicscandal, odium and contempt and has suffered damage.
10. The Plaintiff further avers that immediatelyafter the publication was released, he received numerous telephone calls fromprofessional colleagues, international donor agencies, multinational organisations,relations, friends and religious leaders expressing their utmost disgust andcontempt at the Plaintiff’s alleged disgraceful, unpatriotic and sacrilegiousconducts and questioned the integrity of the Plaintiff.
11. The Plaintiff avers that the spuriousallegations made by the Defendant are untrue and actuated by malice with intentto malign and undermine the Plaintiff’s reputation.
PARTICULARS OF MALICE
(a) Theallegations in the publication are false and untrue.
(b) TheDefendants did not conduct any investigation into the truth of the allegationsbefore publishing them.
(c) TheDefendant did not offer the Plaintiff any opportunity to respond to theallegations before publishing them.
(d) Bypublishing the allegations in a sensational screaming headline, the Defendantevinced the intention to malign the Plaintiff and drag his reputation in themud.
12. The Plaintiff avers that he has sufferedtremendous damage to his reputation and if the Defendant is not restrained, itwill further publish injurious articles against the Plaintiff.
WHEREFORE,the Plaintiff claims against the Defendant as follows:
1. Thesum of N1,000,000,000.00 (One BillionNaira) only being damages for the words published of and concerning thePlaintiff which are libelous by direct reference and innuendo contained at thefront page and page 6 of the Daily Sun of 8thOctober, 2015 titled ‘N1TRNLOOTED FUNDS: LAMORDE, EFCC BOSS, IN SOUP’ and further elaborated uponat page 6 of the said publication.
2. Aretraction and an unreserved apology by the Defendants for the words publishedof and concerning the Plaintiff which are libelous and contained at the frontpage and page 6 of the Daily Sun of 8th October, 2015 titled ‘N1TRNLOOTED FUNDS: LAMORDE, EFCC BOSS, IN SOUP’ and further elaborated uponat page 6 of the said publication and to be published with the same bold printand on the same front page as the headline complained of.
3. AN ORDER OF PERPETUAL INJUNCTIONrestraining the Defendant whether by itself, its agents, privies or servantsfrom further publishing or causing to be published any libelous, injurious ordefamatory words against the Plaintiff.
4. FOR SUCH FURTHER ORDER OR OTHER ORDERS asthis Honourable court may deem fit to make in the circumstances of this case.
Dated 12th day of October, 2015.
FESTUS KEYAMO, ESQ.,
ü FESTUS UKPE, ESQ.,
FESTUSKEYAMO CHAMBERS.
13, NOUAKCHOTT STREET,
NEAR KEYSTONEBANK
WUSE ZONE 1, ABUJA.
08033371229, 08055028515.
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