SAN FRANCISCO, September 25, (THEWILL) – The publisher of News of the People magazine, Dockland Communications Limited, has been ordered to pay Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State the sum of N25million as damages for the publication of a libelous story on the governor.
A High Court sitting in Benin City presided over by Justice Efe Ikponmwonba gave the order on Wednesday while ruling in suit no B/556/2011 filed by the Edo governor over a libelous story titled “Oshiomhole’s sex power exposed: Impregnates young girl six months after death of wife”, published on page 19 of the magazine in 2011.
Oshiomhole had dragged the publisher of the magazine to court following its failure to retract the story and apologise to him as demanded in a letter by counsel to the governor, Ken Mozia and Associates.
In the suit, the governor, who asked the court to award him N250 million damages, said the defendant, among others, falsely published that he bought a jeep for the said girl whom he was alleged to have impregnated and that he was interfering in the academic activities of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, on behalf of the girl; that he used sexual performance enhancement drugs and that he had performed traditional marriage rites precedent to a marriage between him and the said girl.
While being cross-examined during the trial, Oshiomhole explained how pained he was by the publication.
“I am a public officer, and as you have rightly pointed out as a Governor, what I do or fail to do is important.
My character is important and people’s opinion of my personal life is important. My children are still in agony. The magazine published this just a few months after my wife passed away and this publication coincided with my daughter’s wedding. A Governor whom I invited for the wedding asked me if I was the one going to wed or my daughter. Your image as a public officer is very important.
“After this publication, I had very serious family crisis because my children were still in grief over the death of their mother.”
When counsel to the defendant asked him to show how his character was damaged, Oshiomhole said his conclusion from the story and that of many people who called him after reading the story was that he uses drugs.
Counsel to Governor Oshiomhole, Barrister Femi Owootori of Ken Mozia and Associates Chambers, while reacting to the judgement, said: “We as solicitors to the governor wrote a letter to the company asking for a retraction of the publication.
” But the newspaper stuck to its gun and refused to retract the publication. So we gave the necessary notice and took legal action to sue for libel and the case has been on.
“We closed our case rather than come in for defence, the defendants said they were resting their case on the claimants case which is a strategy suggesting that the claimant had made no case.
” But unfortunately for them when the judgment was being delivered it was exhaustively analysed.
“Even though our claim was for N250 million, considering the status of the person against whom the publication was made, the court awarded N25 million and N10,000 cost because the court agreed with our submission that the publication was a tissue of lies.”
