Former Nigerian Ambassador sues Ex-Foreign Minister, Onyeama for defamation in US court

Former Nigerian Ambassador to Namibia Onoh Lilian has filed a libel claim against Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Geoffrey Onyeama in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Mr Gabriel Aduda, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, has also entered the action.

The case has been assigned to Judge Jane Boyle for adjudication, but no date for the hearing has been set.

In court documents, Onoh accused Onyeama and Aduda of defaming her character by utilizing a New York-based online newspaper.

In the court filing, Onoh’s counsel, Steven Thornton, stated that the online journal published an article in April claiming that the Nigerian government fired Onoh for embezzlement of N50 million.

Thornton, her attorney, stated that the media outlet published Onoh’s photograph to guarantee that the story’s object was not misidentified.

In court documents, her lawyer slammed the daily for portraying his client as corrupt after informing its global audience about the diversion of cash intended for the operation of Nigeria’s High Commission in Namibia.

According to the online daily, Aduda and Onyeama were members of the investigating committee that indicted Onoh for fraud.

In retaliation, Onoh accused Onyeama of supporting corrupt practices in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a series of cables to former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to court documents, As an Ambassador, Onoh reported many incidences of misappropriation of millions of US dollars and billions of Naira from Nigerian government funds by various Nigerian officials.

She also revealed an alleged misappropriation of $2.8 million in Red Cross funds intended for Haiti disaster victims, as well as visa racketeering in the United States and other countries by her successor in Jamaica.

The claimant’s lawyer argued that the media assertions in the claimed offending piece were incorrect, claiming that she was never fired from any position with the Nigerian government for theft of funds.

He further claimed that Onyeama did not form a seven-person committee to probe Onoh, and that Aduda did not lead any such group.

Thornton asked the judge for litigation expenses, as well as “any other and further relief at law and in equity to which Onoh may show herself to be justly entitled.”