A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has reserved judgment in a N500 million libel suit instituted by a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, against a career ambassador, Lilian Onoh.
The court will also deliver a verdict in a counterclaim filed by Onoh against Onyeama in which she is asking for N2 billion compensation against the former minister.
Justice Keziah Ogbonnaya, after taking arguments in the final addresses of parties in the suit, reserved judgment and announced that the date for its delivery would be communicated to them.
Onyema had sued Onoh, an ambassador in the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is also a sister to his former wife, for libel, alleging that she defamed him in several memos she sent to former President Muhammadu Buhari, while he was the minister.
The former minister asked the trial judge to award him N500 million as compensation against Onoh and two other defendants.
However, in a counterclaim, Onoh, who is the 1st defendant in the libel suit filed in 2023, urged the court to “impose a N2 billion” fine on Onyeama “for causing total upheaval and emotional trauma” to her by his “malicious suit.”
According to Onoh, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Namibia and Haiti, Onyeama lodged the malicious suit as “part of his 40-year-vendetta to avenge his humiliation of being divorced by “her” sister due to unhinged psychiatric behaviour.”
The former Ambassador alleged a large-scale stealing by staff members of the foreign service of funds belonging to Nigerian embassies and high commissions.
While adopting his final written arguments, Onyeama’s lawyer, Agada Elachi, urged the court to impose N500 million damages against Onoh and other defendants, Akelicious Media Company and Newswire Law & Event Magazine, for “their defamatory publications against” his client.
