The former majority leader of Enugu State House of Assembly, Ikechukwu Ezeugwu, has dragged the former chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chidi Odinkalu before an Enugu State High Court over alleged defamatory publication.
Ezeugwu in suit No E/360/2023, through his counsel, Ike Ozor, is asking the court to award him N5 billion as damages against the alleged defamation.
The plaintiff is urging the court for an order that the publication of his photograph and phone number by the defendant on Facebook, Twitter and Google.
He is also seeking a declaration that is defamatory of his image and standing by the defendant, who is a professor of law, lowers him and his family in the estimation of right thinking men and conveys an imputation on him disparaging or injurious to him in his office.
Ezeugwu claimed that the defendant described him in the said publications as, “Ikechukwu Ezeugwu is leader and dis-honorable member representing Udenu in Enugu State House of Assembly. He is the “sponsor” of this criminal Bill to pay 4 men & their wives N1.25bn of the state’s money annually… Let’s give him #Oxygen. If u want his cell number, pls contact me https://t.co/OFXgFw47Er.”
The applicant is therefore seeking an order that the publication of his photograph and phone number by the defendant in the facebook, twitter and goggle, carries with it the undertone and potential of inciting Enugu people against the plaintiff, his properties and family members.
He also asked the court for an order directing the defendant to forthwith delete the malicious publication in his facebook, twitter and goggle walls such that it will no longer pop-up in the goggle profile of the plaintiff.
The lawmaker further asked for an order that the defendant publish in four National dailies, public apology to the plaintiff for defamatory publication.
Ezeugwu in his statement of claim stated that he had served as the Chairman of several key committees, including the Enugu State House Committee on Tenders Board and the South East Legislative Governance Reform Committee in Enugu State and state Assembly, and initiated the legal action against the defendant for the malicious publication made on various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and Google.
According to him;
The publication, which included Ezeugwu’s photograph and phone number, described him as the “sponsor” of a purported “criminal Bill” aimed at allocating a substantial sum of the state’s funds to four men and their wives annually.
The plaintiff vehemently argues that the defendant’s publication not only misrepresented the true content of the bill but also portrayed him in a negative light, branding the proposed legislation as “wrong, terrible, wicked, sinful, and depraved.
Ezeugwu also claims that the portrayal was defamatory and intended to incite public adulation against him, his family, and his properties.
Furthermore, he claimed that the defendant’s actions mirrored the tensions and turmoil that characterised the ENDsars movement.
He also stated that he would present evidence of the publication and subsequent responses from the defendant’s followers, which contained abusive and insightful statements directed at him, during the trial.
Furthermore, the applicant stated that the defendant’s social media accounts had been sanctioned by Twitter due to the malicious publication, resulting in the defendant’s account being blocked.