Edo Chief of Staff drags Guardian newspapers to court, demands N252.5m as claim

Chief of Staff to Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, Taiwo Akerele, has dragged Guardian Newspaper to Edo State High Court, Benin City over a report on the Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs) rice and other relief items allegedly diverted.

The suit filed by the chief of staff will be entertained on Tuesday at court 8, while in his four claims before the court is asking for an order for the newspaper to pay him the sum of N250m as general and/or exemplary or aggravated damages for libel and another N2.5m as costs.

Akerele dragged the Guardian Newspaper on the footing of what he calls “general and/or exemplary or aggravated damages for libel. The suit relates to a report which the newspaper published earlier in the year with the title , “Probe of Alleged diversion of relief materials begins in Edo”.

He recalled that at the time of the report, which was published by many other local and national dailies,  4, 781 bags of rice out of the 6,822 ostensibly approved for the IDPs Camp at Uhogwa in Ovia North East Local Government Area of the state by the Federal Government that was reported missing was generating controversy.

The rice scandal which the state  government insisted was judiciously disbursed saw the Nigerian Police inviting Chief Dan Orbih, the State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) for questioning after he said the governor must account for the missing bags of rice.

But in reaction, the state government said that all the bags of rice and other items like shoes, apart from the ones that were damaged in storage before they were allocated, were distributed to the Internally Displaced Persons camp  and other orphanage homes within the state.

In addition, Akerele is asking the court for an order so that the newspaper and one other, can publish a well worded retracted and apology in a similarly conspicuous manner.

Besides, he is asking for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants by themselves or their agents or privies whosoever from publishing or causing to be published the “said or similar words defamatory” of the claimant.

According to the Media Adviser to the Governor, Mr Crusoe Osagie, said: “The allegation is laughable and completely false and is a design of detractors to smear the image of a performing government”.

He said, “They have tried and failed on all other fronts, now they have stooped lower to a commodity as cheap as rice.”