ICT Expert Reportedly Sues Lawyer, 2 Others To Court In Abuja

According to a report by Sunnewsonline.com, an Information Communication and Technology (ICT) engineer, Augustine Chigbolu, has sued a legal practitioner, Mrs. Atinuke Daramola, to a Federal High Court in Abuja, over alleged defamation of character.

Included as co-defendants in the suit filed by the claimant through his counsel, Mary Ekpere, are Sesan Onileimo and an online publication, The Shipping Position Online.

Chigbolu is praying the court for N100million damages against the three defendants.

In the statement of claim filed along with the suit, the plaintiff disclosed that on December 13, 2013, his attention was drawn to a story published by Shipping Position Online, which content was defamatory against him.

He further added that the alleged offensive story entitled, "EFCC docks clearing agent over Alleged fraudulent conversion clearing goods," fatally affected his business reputation locally and internationally.

Specifically, the claimant stated that his business partner, a representative of La Vita Business Concept Limited on December 18, 2013 drew his attention to the story.

He also said that the defendant used social networks of facebook and twitter where he had large followers in Lagos and Abuja, to circulate the alleged malicious reports, which had negatively impacted his business interests and infringed his hard-earned international reputation built for decades.

"On or about December 18, 2013, my attention was drawn by my business partner, a representative of La Vita Business Concept Limited to a publication on the online webpage of the defendant. The defendant falsely and maliciously reported and published defamatory words against me.

"Through the publication of the said false and malicious words, the plaintiff has lost clients and one of the clients is the La Vita Business Concept Limited, a Nigerian business that had agreed to partner with the plaintiff in the business of financing in the country," the claimant averred.

"But due to the malicious publication, on January 8, 2014, the said La Vita Business Concept Limited wrote to us they are withdrawing from the agreement. The malicious publication has brought scandals from clients, friends and associates and evident from calls, e-mails messages received and still receiving on the subject matter.

"One of such e-mail is from one Engineer Kevin Ekhalufoh to his business partner in Germany by Giacomo Crosio, the Managing Director of SIRA Group of company where he wrote: "Your representative in Nigeria is a known criminal," the said e-mail dated January 28, 2014 among the evidence exhibited before the court."

The claimant contended that the story was published with the intention of portraying him as fraudulent businessman that is not trustworthy and cannot be relied upon.

He further said he has never been a clearing agent in his professional career both in Nigeria and in abroad. He affirmed that the story has caused stir in his official, unofficial and business circle necessitating his explanation to various persons/groups in order to set the record straight.