Former Nigerian High Commissioner to Namibia Lilian Onoh has filed a libel suit against former minister of foreign affairs Geoffrey Onyeama at the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
Ms Onoh, daughter of a former governor of old Anambra State, Christian Onoh, is the sister of Onyeama’s ex-wife, Nuzo Onoh.
Also listed as defendants is Gabriel Aduda, a permanent secretary at the ministry who is now permanent secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in Abuja.
The suit filed by Ms Onoh’s lawyer, Steven Thornton, in December also listed Sahara Reporters and its publisher Omoyele Sowore as defendants.
The case has been assigned to Judge Jane Boyle for adjudication but no date has been fixed for hearing.
Onoh accused Messrs Onyeama and Aduda of using Sahara Reporters to defame her, according to court filings seen by Premium Times.
Mr Thornton said Sahara Reporters on April 21, 2023, published an article saying Onoh was sacked by the Nigerian government on account of misappropriation of N50 million.
“The article then claims that the Nigerian Federal Civil Service Commission fired Ms Onoh in 2021. Sahara Reporters next claimed that a ‘report by a seven-man committee indicted the controversial former Nigerian High Commissioner to Namibia over her alleged financial misappropriation while serving in the Southern African country,” the court document reads in part.
According to the alleged defamatory story, Sahara Reporters claimed Aduda and Onyeama were members of the investigative committee that indicted Onoh for fraud.
“Sahara Reporters noted that defendant Aduda and defendant Onyeama were members of this committee.
“Sahara Reporters also referenced two alleged letters regarding Ms Onoh’s dismissal that this Commission sent to Ms Onoh detailing the reasons for her termination. The article further stated that this Commission ordered Ms Onoh to refund to the Nigerian mission all the money that she had improperly used,” the court papers also read.
In his submissions, Thornton said the basis of Sahara Reporters’ article was statements and claims credited to Aduda and Onyeama about Onoh.
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In a series of memos to then President Muhammadu Buhari, Onoh accused Onyeama of condoning corrupt practices at the foreign ministry which he supervised.
“Specifically, as an Ambassador, Ms Onoh had reported multiple incidents of embezzlement of millions of U.S. Dollars and billions of Naira of Nigerian Government funds by various Nigerian officials.
“Further, she reported the embezzlement of $2.8 million in Red Cross Funds meant for Haiti earthquake victims as well as the egregious acts of visa racketeering against the USA and other countries in which her successor in Jamaica had engaged,” court papers said.
The claimant’s lawyer contended that Sahara Reporters’ claims in the alleged offending story were false.
He further argued that Onyeama did not create a seven-person committee to investigate Onoh, nor did Aduda head any such committee.
Thornton said the US court has jurisdiction over the case given that the complaint of conduct occurred in the State of Texas.
In Nigeria, Onyeama also sued Onoh for allegedly making libellous remarks in the press.
