Michael Olugbode in Abuja
Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Convener of social advocacy group, United Motion for Change (UAC), Dr. Muiz Banire, has threatened to pull Basis for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) to courtroom for N1 billion compensation if the organisation fails to fulfill his calls for over damages accomplished his 35 years authorized and educational document.
This was disclosed in a letter titled: ‘Defamatory Statements Towards Dr. Muiz Banire, SAN, OON Pre-action Protocol Written Memorandum’ dated seventh Could 2024 and addressed to FIJ by his lawyer, Kunle Adegoke, SAN.
Nevertheless, the police yesterday, launched the detained journalist with the Basis for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Daniel Ojukwu, who was allegedly kidnapped by males of the Intelligence Response Crew of the Inspector Common of Police.
Ojukwu regained his freedom after 10 days in police captivity.
FIJ disclosed this yesterday on its web site.
Ojukwu was stated to have gone lacking on Wednesday, Could 1, his numbers had been switched off and his whereabouts unknown to colleagues, household and mates.
The letter whose copy was made out there to journalists, learn: “Our shopper Knowledgeable us, and we verily imagine him, that: his consideration was drawn to your organisation’s publication of sixth Could 2024 with the caption: Confirmed: Muiz Banire wrote the petition that triggered FIJ Reporter’s Abduction, revealed in your organisation’s web site.
“Within the stated publication, your organisation wrote that our shopper is chargeable for the kidnapping of 1 Daniel Ojukwu, a member of workers of your organisation.”
The letter additional stated, “your publication intentionally conveyed the malicious
impression that our shopper engineered the kidnap of the aforementioned Daniel Ojukwu, thereby, suggesting that our shopper engages in prison conduct; on this vein, your publication failed to say that our shopper acted consistent with his skilled obligation within the illustration of his shopper and that his workplace, M. A. Banire & Associates, authored the petition to the Inspector-Common of Police on behalf of their shopper to report a case of cyberbullying; your publication is, unquestionably, designed to wreck the popularity of our shopper, a objective it’s at present serving.
“Because of the recognition and effectiveness of your organisation’s on-line distribution community, tens of millions of individuals have obtained and skim your organisation’s defamatory publication; your organisation to notice that your publication has dragged our shopper’s rigorously nurtured good identify within the mud and uncovered our shopper to underserved public opprobrium; many who have learn your publications, notably his skilled colleagues and associates, have expressed shock as to why our shopper would have interaction within the prison behaviour your organisation attributed to him.
“Many additionally queried our shopper on the sins or transgressions of the stated Daniel Ojukwu in opposition to the particular person of our shopper as to warrant our shopper resorting to the crime of engineering his abduction; to a lot of them, our shopper’s rationalization that he had no private relationship with the stated Daniel Ojukwu and didn’t know him from Adam however solely acted in his skilled capability as counsel to his shopper within the submission of a petition to the police on his shopper’s behalf fell on deaf ears; and your organisation has, via its false and heinous allegations, inflicted grievous injury on our shopper’s popularity.
“It’s past cavil that the referenced publication casts a direct aspersion on the particular person of our shopper. To right-thinking members of society, you will have offered
our shopper as a prison who engages in abduction of individuals. Moreover, your organisation’s publication has triggered many to imagine that our shopper, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, a member of the Physique of Benchers and a holder of a doctorate diploma in Legislation, has no qualms in committing the heinous crime your organisation’s publications attributed to him.
“The gross implication of your organisation’s publication is that it has knowledgeable the world that our shopper is unfit to be a authorized practitioner or an Officer of the Order of the Niger and is barely match for the 4 partitions of a jail.”
The authorized luminary due to this fact gave the organisation 14 days to retract and make amends, with out which, he can be left with no different choice than to pull FIJ earlier than the courtroom.
“It’s in view of the foregoing that we, on behalf of our shopper, demand the next:
not later than 14 (fourteen) days from the supply of this written memorandum to your organisation, your organisation instantly retracts the stated publication and tenders an unreserved apology via all of your organisation’s platforms and 5 (5) nationwide day by day newspapers circulating all around the federation, which should embrace the Punch Newspaper and ThisDay Newspaper;
“Not later than 14 (fourteen) days from the supply of this letter in your organisation, pay the sum of N500,000,000.00 (5 Hundred Million Naira) as compensation for the popularity of our shopper that your organisation has maligned maliciously and/or recklessly.”
