A defamation lawsuit has been filed against some chieftains of All Progressive Congress in Rivers State.
Ateke Tom, the Amayanabo of Okochiri Town in Okrika, filed a suit at the state High Court in Port against the APC chieftains on the claims that they had slandered him during the December 11 rally in support of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Port Harcourt.
The suit read in part: “On the 11th day of December, 2017 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the defendants falsely and maliciously wrote and published or caused to be written and published of and concerning the claimant in the way of his office as a second-class traditional ruler recognised by the Rivers State government in the form of written banner wherein his picture was displayed in his traditional regalia beside that of the Executive Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency Chief Nyesom Wike, with the following inscriptions on it: GOV. WIKE IS MAKING CRIMINALS KINGS AND ATTACKING SECURITY AGENTS.”
The rally, which held at a time that youths across the country were voicing outrage against personnel of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, attracted condemnation from several quarters.
The Pro-SARS rally conveners claimed that the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, is empowering criminals and sponsoring campaigns against security operatives just to score cheap political points. They also claimed the Governor was rewarding criminals with traditional titles.
One of the inscriptions read “Gov. Wike is making criminals kings and attacking security agents”
One of the banners displayed photos of Governor Wike with Ateke Tom, who was a former militant leader and was granted amnesty in the 2007 Federal Government Amnesty programme for militants in the Niger Delta.
Although the suit is yet to be assigned to a judge, it is asking that the court compels the defendants to issue and apology in three national newspapers, and to jointly or severally pay the sum of One Billion Naira as compensation for damages done to his person.
Those mentioned in the suit include former gubernatorial aspirants, Dumo Lulu Briggs and Tonye Princewill. Others include the Deputy Gubernatorial candidate of the APC in the 2015 general elections, Asita O. Asita, Rivers State APC state chairman, Davis Ikanya, Rivers State APC Secretary, Emeka Bekee, Samson Ngeribara, Sekonte Davies and Lawrence Chukwu.
