The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved judgment in an appeal by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and its reporter, Ismaila Chafe, challenging a N100m defamation award in favour of Emmanuel Omale, founder of Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry International.
Omale had sued NAN and Chafe over a July 11, 2020, report titled “How Magu Used Pastor to Launder Looted Funds Abroad,” published on the agency’s website.
He argued that the publication was false, defamatory and damaging to his reputation.
In a judgment delivered on December 8, 2022, a judge of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, Yusuf Halilu, ruled that the report was defamatory in its entirety and ordered NAN to pay Omale N100m in damages.
Dissatisfied with the decision, NAN and Chafe filed an appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/535/23, asking the appellate court to overturn the judgment and set aside the damages awarded.
At Thursday’s hearing, the appellants’ lawyer, T.D. Agbe, adopted their brief of argument and urged the court to grant the appeal.
However, Omale’s counsel, Okafor Kanayo, asked the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the lower court’s judgment.
A three-member panel comprising Justices Bilikisu Aliyu, Banjoko and Okon Abang heard the appeal before reserving judgment. The court said the parties would be notified of the judgment date.
During the original suit, Omale had also asked the FCT High Court to order NAN to publish a public apology and a full retraction of the report in three national newspapers.
He further sought an injunction restraining the agency from republishing the allegedly defamatory statements.
To support his case, Omale called two witnesses, Phrank Shuaibu and Onuh Simeon Peter, who were examined by his counsel and cross-examined by NAN’s lawyer on November 17, 2021.
Chafe later testified for NAN during the defence of the suit.
According to the court proceedings, Chafe admitted publishing the report on NAN’s website on July 11, 2020.
During cross-examination, he was unable to produce the report he said he had relied on as the source of the publication.
He also admitted that he did not contact Omale for his response before publishing the report.
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