An Abakaliki High Court in Ebonyi State on Monday ordered a social media critic, Mr. Chika Nwoba, to pay N5 million in damages to a legal practitioner, Ugadu Chinedu, over alleged defamation.
Nwoba was accused by the plaintiff in a suit marked HAB/75/2024 of posting some defamatory materials against him on his Facebook page in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
After considering all exhibits and evidence before the court, the presiding judge, Justice Franklin Edem, found Nwoba guilty of
defaming Ugadu.
Justice Edem declared that a declaration is hereby made that exhibits P1, P5, P9, P10, and P11, which were publications made by the defendant on June 15, 2024, September 18, 2024, February 18, 2025, and July 17, 2025, on his Facebook page against the plaintiff, are defamatory.
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“That for his acts of publication of the defamatory matters as aforementioned, the defendant shall pay to the plaintiff the sum of N5 million only as general and aggravated damages.
“That an order of perpetual injunction is hereby made restraining the defendant and his agents, servants, or privies from making any further defamatory publication in any media platform against the plaintiff.
“That the defendant is hereby ordered to, within 30 days from the date of this judgement to, make a retraction of the aforementioned defamatory publication by publishing such retraction on his Facebook page consistently for seven days.
“Such retraction shall be accompanied by an apology made by the defendant to the plaintiff,” the court ordered.
