Abuja, Oct. 18, 2024 (TheGavel) – The Managing Director of BN Ceramics Industry Nigeria Limited and NB Ceramics Ltd, Mr. Liu Yangxi, has filed a N5 billion defamation lawsuit against two prominent media organizations over allegedly false publications accusing him of involvement in a N17 billion fraud.
The lawsuit, marked as CV/3993/2024, was initiated by Yangxi through his counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Akinlolu Kehinde, and was lodged at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
The first defendant in the suit is Peoples Gazette Ltd, the publisher of the online news platform Peoples Gazette. The second and third defendants are Media Trust Ltd, the publisher of Daily Trust newspaper, and Mr. Fidelis Akumatu, a journalist and correspondent with Daily Trust, respectively.
According to court documents, Yangxi claims that the Peoples Gazette published a false and defamatory article on August 3, 2024, titled: “Petitions to EFCC, SSS accuse Chinese expatriate of colluding with bank manager to steal N17 billion from two Nigerian ceramic companies.” Similarly, Daily Trust allegedly published another defamatory article on August 7, 2024, with the headline: “Bank manager, Chinese expatriates’ N17 billion fraud: A dangerous economic sabotage.” The latter was reportedly authored by Akumatu.
Yangxi asserts that these publications have caused significant damage to his personal and professional reputation, exposing him to “public disdain, disrepute, disregard, and opprobrium.”
In his statement of claim, Yangxi alleges that the defendants failed to verify the facts or conduct proper investigations before publishing these stories. “The defendants, without verifying the facts contained in their respective articles or conducting proper investigations, published the above libelous words, knowing them to be false,” Yangxi stated.
He further argued that the content of these articles falsely portrayed him as a fraudulent individual involved in money laundering, tax evasion, environmental harm, and conspiracies with bank officials. The articles also allegedly suggested that he neglects the welfare of his workers and evades taxes, damaging his credibility as a law-abiding expatriate.
“The catchy libelous titles of the published articles portray the claimant as a person who conspires with bank workers to launder money and commit fraud,” the court filing stated. Yangxi emphasized that the defamatory publications had irreparably tarnished his image and goodwill, causing his business associates to question his integrity.
Yangxi is seeking several court orders, including:
- A declaration that the publications are defamatory and aimed at injuring his reputation.
- An order mandating the defendants to retract the libelous materials.
- An order compelling each defendant to publish an apology in three national newspapers for the defamatory articles published on August 3 and August 7, 2024.
- An award of N5 billion in damages against each of the defendants for the harm caused to his reputation.
- A perpetual injunction restraining the defendants and their agents from publishing further defamatory statements against him.
The case, which could set a precedent in defamation law involving media organizations, is expected to be closely watched by legal and media professionals alike.(NAN)
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