2nd March, 2021
By Jethro Ibileke/Benin
A former Special Adviser on Security to Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state, Haruna Yusuf Abiona, has threatened a lawsuit against four chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Edo state, over alleged defamatory statements and publications against him.
The APC chieftains are the Caretaker Committee Chairman, David Imuse, Tony Kabaka Adun, State Deputy Chairman, Edo North APC Caretaker Committee, Jarret Tenebe, and the President of Professional Drivers on Wheel, Edo state, Mr. Adams Ehigiamusoe Shaba.
Haruna, in a letter dated February 19, 2021, through his solicitors, Ainabebholo Attorneys, requested that Imuse, Kabaka and the others within 14 days of service of the letter, tender a letter of apology and retract the said false and malicious publications through six national newspapers, social media platforms and broadcasting stations where the malicious publications were made.
Failure to do that, the solicitors threatened to institute an action of defamation for the sum of N300 million each against Kababa, Shaba and their agents, as damages, as well as N1billion and N2billion against Tenebe and Imuse respectively.
“We have the brief of our client to the extent that you and others have been indulging in libelous and slanderous statements against our client with the sole intent to tarnish his image. Various malicious publications were made by you, widely circulated on the internet and other social media platforms both in the print and broadcasting media stations.
“Some of the false and malicious publications are that you falsely describe our client, Haruna Yusuf Abiona as the mastermind behind the mayhem and terror unleashed at the front of the palace of the Oba of Benin.
“You also stated that Haruna Yusuf Abiona is blood thirsty who introduced banditry in Edo Politics, falsely claiming that our client is issuing death threats and physical assault to members of APC.
“You also falsely claimed that in a shocking revelation, it has been shown that the Edo State Government in connivance with a retired Police Officer from Kogi State who has been Identified in series of violent plots in Edo State and beyond, Mr. Haruna Yusuf is plotting to stage an attack on their own convoy specifically that of the Deputy Governor, Mr. Philip Shaibu in a bid to draw sympathy before the last governorship elections.
“The above false and malicious publication deliberately made by you in various media platforms, widely circulated in the whole world with millions of people accessing such platforms for the purpose of tarnishing our client’s image, reducing him to an irresponsible, violent and wicked person in the minds of the public as a retired senior police officer and a top Government official,” the read in part.