The Federal Government has ordered the continuation of prosecution to a logical conclusion of one Benjamin Joseph, owner of Citadel Oracle Concepts Limited, an Ibadan-based ICT retail firm and alleged accuser of the Zinox Chairman, Leo Stan Ekeh, for malicious falsehood over an alleged N170 million fraud.
The order was communicated via a letter dated 6th June from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami to the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba and communicated to the courts by the IGP on September 26, 2022.
This was confirmed in a statement by Matthew Burkaa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
According to the statement, Joseph has a previous court judgment of N20m as damages awarded against him by an FCT High Court Abuja, for giving the Federal Government false information after accusing Ekeh of fraudulently converting a contract awarded to his firm by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in 2012. Furthermore, the statement revealed that Joseph is facing another criminal charge for false petitioning before Honourable Justice Peter Kekemeke of the High Court of the FCT, Abuja.
The SAN, who disclosed that this clarification is necessary in informing the public to disregard the various sponsored media reports being circulated online and on social media by Joseph against the Zinox Chairman, also stated that every available legal means will be employed to address the libelous contents in the referenced publications and seek for appropriate remedies and damages, where necessary.
The statement reads in part: “We act for Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh, Technology Distributions Limited (TD) and its staff Chioma Ekeh, Chris Eze Ozims, Oyebode Folashade and Charles Adigwe (hereinafter referred to collectively or individually as “Our Clients”).
Quote
‘‘Our Clients have drawn our attention to several online publications, containing some false, distorted and damaging contents in the SAHARA REPORTERS of October 2, 2022 titled: ZINOX GROUP CHAIRMAN, WIFE, 11 OTHERS FACE TRIAL IN NIGERIAN COURT OVER ALLEGED N170M CONTRACT FRAUD NINE YEARS AFTER. A Similar story with the same content was published in OPERA NEWS on 29th September, 2022, and in the NATIONAL WAVES on 29th September 2022 titled: LEO STAN EKEH’S ALLEGED N170.3M FRAUD SCANDAL RESURFACES; and also in THE NEWS MATRICS (Online News Paper Publication) published on the 30th September 2022 titled: FG TO PROSECUTE ZINOX BOSS, EKEH, WIFE OVER ALLEGED N170.3M FRAUD. THE WITNESS (online newspaper) of September 29, 2022, also carried the story. Copies of these online publications have gone viral on social media and have been read globally by different persons and diverse groups, who have been worried by the content of the publication and have continued to bombard our Clients with calls expressing their utter shock and consternation at the content of the publications.
In addition, the counsel stated that the FG has filed a formal charge against Benjamin Joseph for submitting a false petition against Mr. Ekeh, his wife, Mrs. Chioma Ekeh and other persons mentioned in the articles, while noting that the same falsehood has now been reported in those media publications as the content of the charge against them.
Burkaa noted that: “The Criminal Charge will be coming up before His Lordship, the Hon. Justice U.P. Kekemeke of the FCT, High Court, Abuja on the 3rd day of November, 2022 for the defence of Mr. Benjamin Joseph whose “No Case Submission” had been dismissed by the Court, indicating that he has a case to answer. The Federal Government has also written letters through the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) and the Nigerian Police Force for the continuation of the said prosecution. The letters are dated 6th of June, 2022 and 26th September, 2022.”
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