Agency Report
Abuja – A Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected a request by businessman Ibrahim Dende to restrain investigative journalist ‘Fisayo Soyombo and the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) from publishing further stories about him.
The request was part of a lawsuit filed by Dende against Soyombo and FIJ, following an undercover investigation that alleged he was involved in smuggling and gunrunning.
Investigative journalist Soyombo conducted a sting operation to expose the vulnerability of Nigeria’s borders, successfully smuggling 100 bags of rice from the Republic of Benin into Nigeria without encountering any security resistance.
The operation revealed collusion between corrupt Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) officials and smugglers, who shared intelligence on patrol teams’ schedules and routes, enabling the illegal importation.
Titled ‘Undercover As A Smuggler’, his report also indicted Dende as the biggest smuggler in the Southwest, and was followed by several tweets about smuggled goods mentioning Dende as the architect.
On May 3, IBD Dende filed a lawsuit against ‘Fisayo Soyombo, the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), and Arise Group, alleging defamation following the broadcast of an investigative documentary on smuggling.
On July 2, Justice Binta Mohammed of the FCT High Court, Abuja Judicial Division, heard IBD Dende’s application for a restraining order to prevent the defendants from publishing further allegedly defamatory content about him.
In the written argument submitted to the court by his counsel, it was argued that the 1st and 2nd defendants had consistently defamed and maligned IBD Dende’s character. It was alleged that Soyombo continued to publish statements on IBD Dende as recently as June 3, thereby subjecting IBD Dende to social media trial and judgment while the subject matter of the suit was still before a court of law.
As a result, IBD Dende’s legal counsel urged the court to grant an injunction to stop the alleged continuous defamatory publications against their client, pending the final ruling on the case.
They argued that while the constitution protects freedom of expression, it does not extend to defaming individuals. They also disputed the accuracy of a viral video published by FIJ, which labelled IBD Dende a smuggler and gunrunner. In a counter-affidavit, IBD Dende clarified that the video merely showed a verbal disagreement with customs officers and did not provide evidence of his involvement in smuggling.
He maintained that he is a licensed customs clearing and forwarding agent, whose legitimate work involves facilitating the transportation of goods into and out of Nigeria.
FIJ countered IBD Dende’s injunction request, affirming the accuracy of their publications and urging the court to dismiss the application.
They argued that the injunction request is unconstitutional, as it seeks to restrain the press and stifles press freedom. In their written argument, Soyombo and FIJ’s counsel contended that pre-trial suppression of the press violates the constitutional right to freedom of the press and speech.
They emphasized that the press has a public duty to expose wrongdoing and must not be censored or restricted, as this is essential to serving the public interest.
Further, FIJ counsel argued that the grant of the application for injunction to restrain further libel would be prejudicial to the main suit because it would be wrongly assumed that previous publications were defamatory and there was a need to stop further defamatory publications.
In addition, it was submitted that IBD Dende who had admitted under oath to assaulting law enforcement officers did not deserve an equitable relief of injunction to restrain the press. FIJ argued that he who seeks equity must do equity and come with clean hands and it would be a “perverse incentive” to grant injunction in favour of a party who has engaged in such lawlessness depicted in the video.
Soyombo and FIJ have also filed a defence to the main suit alongside a list of witnesses to be invited to testify. These include: one Rotimi Awoyemi, the Customs officer who was allegedly threatened in the video published by FIJ; Mr. Bashir Adewale Adeniyi (MFR), Comptroller- General of Customs; and Mr. Hussein Ejigbunu, whom IBD Dende reportedly mentioned in the viral video.
IBD Dende also listed two witnesses: himself and Oba Akintunde Akinyemi, the traditional ruler of Iselu, Yewa North Local Government, whose written statement on oath was filed in support of the statement of claim.
The lawyers closed their argument and the court reserved ruling on the application for interlocutory injunction to a later date to be communicated to the parties.
According to a certified true copy of the court’s proceedings on May 21, IBD Dende had previously sought an ex parte order to restrain Soyombo, FIJ, and Arise from further alleged defamatory publications, before serving them with court processes.
However, the court refused to hear the application and instead instructed the claimant’s counsel to serve the defendants with notice, directing them to appear in court.
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