Defamation: Court Orders Bank To Pay Prophet Omale N540.5m

Justice Yusuf Halilu of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, has ordered a new generation bank to pay N540.5m in damages to a preacher, Emmanuel Omale, of the Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry and his wife, Deborah, over false claim that he laundered N573 million for former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu.

In a judgement it delivered yesterday, the court held that the bank recklessly breached the duty of care it owed to the claimants – Omale, his wife and their church. The judgement was on the suit marked: FCT/HC/CV2541/2020 filed by Omale, his wife and the church.

During the investigation of Magu by the Justice Isa Salami-led presidential investigation panel, it was claimed that an investigation by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) revealed that the ex-EFCC chairman paid N573m into Omale’s church’s account with which a property was allegedly bought in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Justice Halilu, in his judgement, noted that evidence before his court showed that the bank admitted error in its report, to the NFIU, of entries in the Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry’s account.

The judge further noted that the bank claimed that the purported N573million was wrongly reflected as credit entry in the Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry’s account by its reporting system, which it recently upgraded.

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Justice Halilu noted that the bank admitted the error, which caused incalculable damage to the reputation of the claimants both within and outside the country. He held that the claimants provided sufficient evidence to establish a case of negligence against the bank.

Justice Halilu proceeded to award N200 million as aggravated damages; N140,500,000 as specific damages and N200million as general damages.