Defamation Case Analysis

Defamation

Nigeria

We have been briefed and our services retained by Mr. Peter Obi, whom we shall hereinafter refer to as our Client, and upon whose specific instructions this correspondence is founded. Our Client's attention has been drawn to a widely circulated and damaging publication titled: REVEALED: Peter Obi's supporters are the people planning mayhem in Nigeria: Obi should be held responsible for anarchy that was published on your verified "X" (formerly Twitter) handle '* @aonanuga1956" on the 20th of July *, at about *:* AM. This publication was also circulated on various social media platforms including "X", WhatsApp" Facebook as well as various online and print media such as: Vanguard News - (Peter Obi should be held responsible for planned nationwide protest — Onanuga - Vanguard News (vanguardngr.com); Vanguard - Obi's supporters, IPOB behind planned nationwide protest, Onanuga insists - Vanguard News (vanguardngr.com); Punch - Presidency plotting to arrest Peter Obi, media office alleges (punchng.com); The Cable - Peter Obi's supporters behind planned nationwide protest, Onanuga alleges I TheCable; This Day Presidency: Obi's Supporters Sponsoring Planned Protests — THISDAYLIVE, Tribune: Peter Obi's supporters planning nationwide protests — Onanuga Tribune Online (tribuneonlinengocom), Leadership: Peter Obi Should Be Held Responsible For Planned August * Anti-Hunger Protest Onanuga (leadershipeng), Channels TV: Presidency, Obi Trade Words Over Planned Hardship Protest (channelstvocom), https://youtu.be/rEOPBcoUHV00 *. Our client was minded to ignore the false and malicious campaign of calumny regarding it as the vituperations of one who prefers to express their opinion over understanding or that of a scoffer who, converted by Lady Fool, tries to convert others to foolishness. But as the Good Book says, answering a fool's stupid words will make one look foolish, but not answering will make them think they are smart — Proverbs *: *. In order not to have our Client's silence misconstrued as acquiescence or admission, our Client saw a need to set the records straight. *. The central theme of your referenced statement from an unbiased and objective examination thereof, is that our Client is an anarchist who whilst working in consonance with terrorist groups, has championed the mobilization of several nationwide protests in a bitter and undemocratic bid to usurp the Federal Government possibly as restitution for failure at the * presidential elections. *. Our Client denies the entirety of the falsehood contained in the said publication and insists that there is no modicum of truth in the allegations preferred against him in your published statement that has since gone viral on the internet and its various social media platforms. *. The said statements are in every sense malicious and convey with them, the potentiality of an ostracization of our Client by well-meaning citizens of Nigeria. It should be stated without any form of equivocation, that our Client is an elder statesman, a diplomat and an unwavering democrat. He has always tailored his affairs according to the dictates of the Nigerian law. Where there has been any dissatisfaction with any process or procedure, our Client's first and only resort has been to invoke the appropriate legal mechanisms to ventilate his grievances. *. As a matter of fact, our Client has severally urged his teeming supporters to abide by the rule of law, and to abstain from any actions which could result in a breakdown of law and order. He refrains from associating himself with protests and has constantly persuaded Nigerians to persevere. Our Client has expressed dissatisfaction with certain policies and has voiced same out through constructive criticism, without malice or resentment. *. It is our Client's conviction that the publication was a calculated plot to demean, ridicule, humiliate and embarrass him by the estimation of every right-thinking member of the society. It appears you have achieved your insipid motive as well-wishers from all around the globe have inundated him with calls to register their shock. His appellation as ''Okwute" (the Rock) notwithstanding, the demeaning and scandalous publication has also caused a serious emotional injury to our Client given his decades of stellar stewardship in private and public life. *. Consequently, we have our Client's mandate to demand that you retract the statement made in the publication and tender an unreserved apology to him within * hours of the receipt of this letter in not less than * National Dailies to wit: Vanguard, This Day, Punch and the Cable, including your verified "X" handle - "@aonanuga1956". Our Client also is making an unequivocal demand for monetary damage of (Five Billion Naira) only for the embarrassment your defamatory publication has caused him and his family. Take Notice that in the event of your failure to meet the demands set out above, our Client shall be constrained to approach a Court of competent jurisdiction and take legal action against you for defamation and libel. Be advised accordingly. While looking forward to your response, accept the assurances of our highest. Identify what could be termed Defamatory statements in this letter. Write them out in a fullscap, stating: *. The kind of defamation *. How it fares in terms of what a Plaintiff must prove to succeed. *. Who is the likely Plaintiff? *. Who is the likely Defendant?