Court awards Reps member ₦10m in defamation suit

A State High Court in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, has awarded ₦10 million in damages to Chinedu Ogah, the member representing the Ikwo/Ezza South Federal Constituency, in a defamation lawsuit against social media critic Chisom Achor.

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Delivering the judgement, Justice Frankline Edem ruled that a series of videos published by the defendant on Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms between September and October 2025 were defamatory. The court declared that the allegations in the videos, presented as Exhibit P1, were injurious to Mr Ogah’s character and reputation.

According to a certified true copy of the judgement obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, the court ordered Mr Achor to retract the publications and issue an unreserved apology on his Facebook and TikTok pages within 30 days.

Justice Edem awarded ₦10 million in compensation for the damage to Mr Ogah’s reputation—a significant reduction from the ₦1 billion in general damages originally sought. Additionally, the court granted a perpetual injunction restraining the defendant, his agents, or privies from publishing further defamatory statements against Mr Ogah on any social media platform. The defendant was further ordered to pay ₦200,000 in legal costs.

READ ALSO: Defamation: EFCC appeals against judgement awarding N10m damages to ex-minister

Failure to file a defence

The judgement followed the defendant’s failure to file a statement of defence, despite being personally served with originating processes while in custody at a correctional centre in Enugu. Court records indicate that the writ of summons was served on 26 January 2026.

Although counsel represented the defendant, Samuel Ede, during proceedings on 31 March, the lawyer subsequently failed to file any defence or appear in court. Despite being served with a notice of hearing, neither the defendant nor his counsel attended the resumed hearing. Consequently, Justice Edem granted the plaintiff leave to prove his case in default of defence, delivering the verdict after hearing submissions from the plaintiff’s counsel, Samson Ekigbo.