Defamation: Late Ohinoyi’s Son Threatens Ex-NASS Clerk With Lawsuit, N50m Damages

One of the late Ohinoyi of Ebira Land’s sons, Mr Buhari Sani Omolori, has threatened his brother and former Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr AbdulRasaq Ataba Sani Omolori, with a lawsuit over an allegation of defamation of character.

In addition, Omolori is seeking an apology and N50m in damages.

Omolori, in a letter to Ataba dated February 4, 2025, through his lawyer, Barrister A. A. Muhammad, with Reference number AAM/ES/SC/V0I3/005/002/025, said that in December 2023, Ataba wrote a petition against him, and the police arrested and detained him.

He said the police investigated the allegation against him but found nothing incriminating, adding that he was subjected to untold hardship during the probe.

In the letter, he said, “That on the 1st of December, 2023, you wrote a petition against our client to the FCIID, Area 10, Garki Abuja—FCT. After our client was invited, the Police investigated him but could not connect him with any of the alleged offences you claimed.

“That our client was subjected to psychological trauma and untold hardship, on which the embarrassment is difficult to explain to his neighbour and family who witnessed the harassment you subjected him to for the offence he knows nothing about. Our client demands an apology letter, and you are to publish this in three national newspapers.”

“That for subjecting our client to these hardships, our client is demanding compensation in the sum of Fifty Million Naira Only {N50,000,000.00} for defamation of character and the hardship you subjected him to during the arrest. Based on the above circumstances, we urge you to comply with this instruction and failure to do so may result in further instructions from our client for legal action. A stitch in time saves nine!”