The Minister of State for Defense, Bello Matawalle, has filed a lawsuit against two prominent northern journalists, Shu’aibu Mungadi and Tijjani Ramalan, alleging defamation and malicious reporting.
The suit, marked K/M2102/2024 and dated October 25, seeks N10 billion in general damages from each of the six defendants, along with a 10% post-judgment interest until the amount is fully paid.
The lawsuit also names the journalists’ employers, including Vision Media Services Ltd, Vision FM, Farin Wata Television, and Liberty Radio and TV.
In an affidavit supporting a motion for an interlocutory injunction, Matawalle claims that the defendants made damaging statements through their media platforms, accusing him of being a sponsor of bandits.
The deponent stated that the plaintiff, Bello Matawalle, served as the chief security officer and executive governor of Zamfara State for four years. During his tenure, he made significant efforts to combat insecurity in the state across various dimensions.
“That from January 2024, the 3rd to 6th defendants in their respective stations, channels, pages, handles, YouTube and programmes chaired/anchored by the 1st and 2nd defendants started televising, airing, broadcasting, posting, spreading false, libelous, injurious and defamatory statements, utterances, assertions and allegations against the person, character and reputation of the plaintiff, presenting and painting him as sponsor of bandits and banditry as well as kidnappers and kidnapping in the North-West states of Nigeria, Zamfara State inclusive.
“That the said stations, channels, pages, handles, Youtube and programmes of the 3rd to 6th defendants anchored/chaired by the 1st and 2nd defendants cut across the said North-West states and are being tuned, listened and viewed by the innocent good populous people of those states, including Kano State as well as the entire world in respect of the online stations, channels and pages of the defendants.”
The deponent asserted that the plaintiff is willing to pay damages if the main lawsuit is deemed frivolous. They argued that “unless restrained pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit, the defendants will continue to damage and undermine the character and reputation of the plaintiff.”
In a motion on notice filed by Umar Said of Umar and Umar Chambers before Justice Musa Ahmad of the Kano State High Court, Bichi Division, Bello Matawalle is seeking an interlocutory injunction to prevent all defendants, along with their officers, staff, agents, and employees, from making any further instigations or insinuations regarding him and his office. The motion requests that they refrain from airing, broadcasting, posting, uploading, or transmitting any related issues until the substantive suit is heard and determined.
Also, In a concurrent writ of summons, the plaintiff’s counsel has requested the court to declare that the allegations, statements, and assertions made by the defendants against the plaintiff from January 2024 to the present, aired and posted on their various platforms, constitute defamation of his character and reputation.
He also requests an order directing the defendants to issue a typewritten apology that includes a retraction of the defamatory statements, to be published prominently in two newspapers, both local and national. The court has scheduled a hearing for December 12, 2024.
