Magu Gets Court Leave To Serve Suit On Journalists Over Alleged False, Malicious Publications
Justice Josephine Oyefeso of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja Wednesday granted leave to the Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu to serve a motion on notice he filed against three journalists working with the Sun Newspaper on them.
Magu had earlier this year sued the Sun Newspaper and three journalists including the Editor, Saturday Sun, Fred Itua, James Ojo and Lawrence Enyoghase over an alleged false and malicious publications against his person.
He is asking the court to award him the sum of N5billion as compensation for the alleged libelous imputations and statements made against him in a story published in the March 25, 2017 edition of the Saturday Sun.
The EFCC Chairman maintained that the publication captioned ‘Magu Under Fresh Probe Over 2 Abuja Mansions’ and authored by Fred Itua, James Ojo and Lawrene Enyoghasu, “willfully and maliciously made false, destructive, and defamatory statements” against him.
The report had alleged that the boss of the anti-graft agency purchased for himself, two mansions on different streets in the highbrow Maitama area of Abuja.
Magu however insisted that neither he nor his wife owned any property in Maitama.
In addition to the demand for N5 billion compensation , Magu demanded that the publishers issue a public apology and an immediate retraction in writing of the false libelous statements, within seven days of the publication.
At the resumed hearing of the case on Wednesday, the lawyer, who represented Magu in court, lawyer, Wahab Shittu moved a motion exparte seeking to serve the originating processes on the three reporters who authored the publication by pasting it on their last known address given as No. 2 Coscharis Street, Off Happy Home Avenue, Kirikiri Industrial Layout, Apapa, Lagos.
The motion was promptly granted by Justice Oyefeso.
The matter was subsequently adjourned to November 15, 2017 for trial.
