Lawmaker sues Benue gov, two aides for defamation

The federal lawmaker representing Kwande/Ushongo Federal Constituency, Terseer Ugbor, has filed a N1 billion defamation lawsuit against the Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia.

The suit was submitted on Friday to the Benue State High Court in Makurdi.

Also named in the suit (MHC/422/2024) are the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Tersoo Kula and another media aide, Isaac Uzaan.

Ugbor is seeking a court order directing Governor Alia and his media aides to remove all defamatory posts about him from their Facebook pages.
Additionally, he wants the court to compel the defendants to issue a public apology, to be published in at least five national newspapers and on social media platforms.

The lawmaker also requests a perpetual injunction restraining the governor and his aides from further defaming him in any capacity.

In his statement of claim, Ugbor explained “that as a representative concerned with the welfare of his constituents, he had written to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on multiple occasions—on October 9 and 16, 2023 and again on May 8, 2024—requesting palliatives for victims of herdsmen attacks in Kwande Local Government Area. After several attempts, NEMA finally approved and released relief materials, which Ugbor acknowledged.”
While attending to national matters in the United States on September 11, 2024, Ugbor said he arranged for the transportation of the relief materials from NEMA’s warehouse in Jos to Makurdi for temporary storage.

The items, he said were kept in a public warehouse in Makurdi, awaiting his return for distribution to the displaced persons in his constituency.

To his surprise, Ugbor alleged that “Alia impounded the vehicle transporting the relief items. Following this, Isaac Uzaan posted a defamatory article on his Facebook page titled “RE: ALIA VOWS TO MAKE LIFE UNBEARABLE FOR IDPs IN KWANDE.”

“Similarly, on September 18, Kula posted a press statement on Facebook, accusing Ugbor of diverting relief materials, under the headline “Gov. ALIA HANDS OVER TRUCK OF DIVERTED RELIEF MATERIALS TO EFCC/ICPC,” he stated.

Ugbor further claimed that Alia, in a video shared on September 18 on Fr. Alia TV Network, made defamatory statements accusing him of diverting relief materials meant for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and referred to him as a “dishonourable member.”

In addition to the N1 billion in damages for defamation, Ugbor seeks other reliefs from the court.

A date for the hearing of the suit has not yet been set.