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From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
An Anambra State High Court 2 sitting in Awka, presided by Justice C. C. Okaa, has ordered a man from Nri in Anaocha Local Government Area, Chief Ambrose Obi-Okoye, to pay the sum of ₦15.5m for publishing some defamatory comments on WhatsApp groups.
Obi-Okoye in some village WhatsApp fora, made five publications against his kinsman Chief Godwin Okeke, who claimed the comments were injurious to his character and reputation.
Delivering judgment in the suit No A/366/2020 – Chief Godwin Okeke vs Chief Obi Okoye, Justice Okaa explained that evidence before the court showed that the statements were defamatory and injurious to the plaintiff (Godwin Okeke), adding that the defendant (Ambrose Obi-Okoye) had no justification to prove innocence.
He ordered the defendant to pay the sum of ₦15m to the plaintiff for defaming his character and additional ₦500,000 as cost of litigation.
The court also ordered the defendant to tender an apology on the WhatsApp platforms where the said defamatory publications were made, and in the village too.
Speaking in an interview, counsel to the plaintiff, Chukwuebuka Okeke, represented by Gideon Egburu, described the judgment as a welcome development and justice well deserved.
He recalled that the plaintiff had demanded the sum of ₦250m from the defendant as general damages because of the five libelous publications, an order compelling the defendant to write and tender an unreserved apology to the plaintiff, and post-judgment interest at the rate of 15% per annum from the date of judgment until the entire judgment sum was liquidated.
In his defence, the defendant alleged that his five statements were simply abuse. However, the defendant was unable to produce or tender a single statement by the plaintiff that elicited his five defamatory statements.
