{"id":115474,"date":"2024-12-02T02:37:44","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T01:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=115474"},"modified":"2024-12-02T02:37:44","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T01:37:44","slug":"businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/","title":{"rendered":"Businessman threatens police with N2b suit over defamation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
A businessman, Mr Chinedu Ernest Nwaka, through his lawyers, Dorminus Attorneys, has petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, against the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Force CID Annex, Alagbon, Lagos, ASP Mayegun Aminat, threatening a N2 billion lawsuit for calling him a fraudster.<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\nHe alleged that ASP Mayegun, on November 27, 2024, defamed and maligned his character through her official X handle, where she made a post captioned: \u201cArrest of serial fraudster, Chinedu Ernest Ngwaka for fraud involving N320,000,000,\u201d thereby portraying him as a criminal and fraudster even though he has not been convicted by any court of competent jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

Addressing journalists at a press conference in Lagos over the weekend, Mr Ngwaka\u2019s lawyer, Chris Ejima Johnson, said the police arrogated to themselves the position of a court of law by convicting his client on social media.<\/p><\/div>\n

\nHe noted that the controversial publication was replete with unfounded claims and defamatory imputations deliberately intended to defame his client and lower his estimation before right-thinking members of the public.<\/p>\n

He stressed that the petition to the IGP demanded that the post be taken down, with apologies to his client to be published in two national dailies, and N2 billion as damages for the injuries caused by the defamatory post to his client\u2019s reputation.<\/p><\/div>\n

\nHe also said the police had been given 48 hours to comply with the demand, or his client would be left with no option but to seek redress in court for commensurate remedies.<\/p>\n

He stated that his client was also a victim of a business deal gone wrong, a development the police were aware of, and lamented that instead of carrying out their investigation professionally to identify the culprit for prosecution, they turned themselves into a court of law with the power to convict.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\u201cTo set the records straight, our client has never been convicted of fraud or any criminal activity by any court. Our client is also a victim of fraud, which the police know or ought to have known if they had sincerely and professionally carried out their investigations. The police have abdicated their statutory role to investigate crimes but have transmogrified into social media content creators, wherein they subject our client to media trial and convict him by themselves.<\/div>\n
\n\u201cThey have no power in law to turn themselves into a court where they conclusively declare anyone a fraudster and a criminal even when the person has not been arraigned, prosecuted, or convicted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the police had carried out an investigation as they are expected to, they ought to have known that our client had earlier lodged a petition at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Inspector General of Police in Abuja, as well as the Force CID Alagbon, against Mrs. Titilayo Mary Eboh, who allegedly collected large sums of money from various individuals and business owners, including our client, with a promise to provide foreign currency in exchange for their naira deposits.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\u201cIn a petition to the EFCC and the Nigeria Police dated September 5 and 6, 2024, respectively, our client presented a complaint and requested an investigation in respect of the subject, which has now led to him being called a fraudster.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important to note that the complainants in the petition against our client, leading to the defamatory post, are people who have been doing forex business with our client over a period of time without hitches. It is also instructive to note that the failure of Mrs. Eboh to deliver on her promise has cost our client about $5,000,000 of his personal money. The evidence of transfers and history of the transactions were all made available to the police to aid their investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is, therefore, very shocking that rather than carry out a detailed investigation, the police resorted to media trial, where they unprofessionally branded our client a fraudster even when they admitted that the investigation is yet to be concluded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no basis for the defamatory post to have been made in the first place. This is especially so when our client is also a victim, who has lost a huge amount of money from the transaction and presented a petition to the police for investigation. We must state that the police have all the documents to trace the transactions and confirm his innocence if they are actually concerned about the justice of the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pronouncement by the police on the guilt of our client through the said publication without a trial and conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction is a serious aberration and a clear violation of the presumption of innocence guaranteed and protected under our constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge the members of the public to discountenance the defamatory post by ASP Aminat, as she is neither a court of law nor a judge to pronounce our client a fraudster. Our client is a businessman with a longstanding history of integrity, honesty, and diligence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is equally a victim who has submitted the issue to law enforcement agencies for proper investigation as is expected of any law-abiding citizen of this country. His hands are clean, and that is why he has taken the bold steps to let law enforcement look into his complaints and has also supplied them with all the documents and information they need to aid a proper investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we wish to reiterate that our client shall seek redress in court against the police for the unprofessional resort to defamation and blackmail rather than performing their statutory functions if they fail to carry out our client\u2019s demands within the stipulated time frame,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

Also speaking, Mr. Ngwaka lamented that he had been arrested twice over the same case. \u201cI have spent N6 million for bail, N3 million on each of the two occasions, respectively. They also seized my Toyota Hilux Jeep and froze my bank accounts and that of my wife for over two months now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He called on the IGP, President Bola Tinubu, and the National Assembly to ask the police authorities to release his vehicle and unfreeze his bank accounts and that of his wife, as the situation has subjected him and his family to harrowing financial hardship.<\/p>\n

He stated that the police knew the account where the money they were looking for was lodged, as he had provided them with all the necessary documents to that effect. But rather than trace the money to the account and get the person involved, they have resorted to tarnishing his image by calling him a fraudster when nothing was found in his account and when he has not been charged to court, let alone convicted.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A businessman, Mr Chinedu Ernest Nwaka, through his lawyers, Dorminus Attorneys, has petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, against the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Force CID…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":83939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBusinessman threatens police with N2b suit over defamation - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Businessman threatens police with N2b suit over defamation - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A businessman, Mr Chinedu Ernest Nwaka, through his lawyers, Dorminus Attorneys, has petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, against the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Force CID…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-02T01:37:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/policee-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"697\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"366\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"headline\":\"Businessman threatens police with N2b suit over defamation\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-02T01:37:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/\"},\"wordCount\":1115,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/policee-1.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/\",\"name\":\"Businessman threatens police with N2b suit over defamation - Pointblank News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/policee-1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-02T01:37:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/policee-1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/policee-1.jpeg\",\"width\":697,\"height\":366},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Businessman threatens police with N2b suit over defamation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\",\"name\":\"Pointblank News\",\"description\":\"Just the news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\",\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Our Reporter\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Businessman threatens police with N2b suit over defamation - Pointblank News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Businessman threatens police with N2b suit over defamation - Pointblank News","og_description":"A businessman, Mr Chinedu Ernest Nwaka, through his lawyers, Dorminus Attorneys, has petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, against the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Force CID…","og_url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/","og_site_name":"Pointblank News","article_published_time":"2024-12-02T01:37:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":697,"height":366,"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/policee-1.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Our Reporter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Our Reporter","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/"},"author":{"name":"Our Reporter","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"headline":"Businessman threatens police with N2b suit over defamation","datePublished":"2024-12-02T01:37:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/"},"wordCount":1115,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/policee-1.jpeg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/","name":"Businessman threatens police with N2b suit over defamation - Pointblank News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/policee-1.jpeg","datePublished":"2024-12-02T01:37:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/policee-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/policee-1.jpeg","width":697,"height":366},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/businessman-threatens-police-with-n2b-suit-over-defamation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Businessman threatens police with N2b suit over defamation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/","name":"Pointblank News","description":"Just the news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c","name":"Our Reporter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Our Reporter"},"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}