The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved judgment in an appeal filed by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and its reporter, Ismaila Chafe, challenging a N100 million defamation award in favour of Emmanuel Omale, founder and general overseer of Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry International, Abuja.
Gatekeepers News reports that Omale instituted the suit over a report titled “How Magu used pastor to launder looted funds abroad”, published on NAN’s website on July 11, 2020.
He described the publication as false, defamatory and damaging to his reputation.
In a judgment delivered on December 8, 2022, Yusuf Halilu, a judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja, held that the report was defamatory in its entirety and ordered NAN to pay Omale N100 million in damages.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, 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 by the lower court.
At the resumed hearing on Thursday, the appellants, through their counsel, T.D. Agbe, adopted their brief of argument and urged the court to allow the appeal.
However, Omale’s counsel, Okafor Kanayo, urged the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the N100 million damages awarded by the FCT High Court.
The appeal was heard by a three-member panel comprising Justices Bilikisu Aliyu, Banjoko and Okon Abang.
After the parties adopted their written addresses, the panel reserved judgment and said the date for its delivery would be communicated to the parties.
Background to the suit
In his original suit, Omale asked the FCT High Court to compel NAN to publish a public apology and a full retraction of the report in three national newspapers.
He also sought an injunction restraining the agency from publishing the allegedly defamatory statements in the future.
During the trial, Omale called two witnesses, Phrank Shuaibu and Onuh Simeon Peter, and tendered documents in support of his claims.
The witnesses were examined by Omale’s counsel and cross-examined by NAN’s lawyer on November 17, 2021.
Chafe subsequently testified on behalf of NAN during the defence of the suit.
According to the court proceedings, Chafe admitted that he published the report on NAN’s website on July 11, 2020.
During cross-examination, however, he was unable to produce the report he said he had relied on as the source of the publication.
Chafe also admitted that he did not contact Omale to obtain his side of the story before publishing the report.
