The All Progressives Congress chapter in Edo State has demanded that the Vanguard Newspaper immediately remove an article from its Tuesday edition that portrayed certain well-known party members as the masterminds of the violence that killed Akor Onuh, a police officer, last Thursday in Benin. Recall that last Thursday, gunmen ambushed the convoy carrying Senator Monday Okpebholo, the candidate for governor from the All Progressives Congress, and reinstated deputy governor of the state, Philip Shaibu. This attack resulted in the murder of a police officer. The Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives (APC) have become emboldened in the aftermath of the incident, accusing opposition members of being responsible for the chaos and demanding an investigation.
Martin Omo-lghekpe and Co., the APC’s lawyer, wrote a letter to the Vanguard newspaper’s management claiming that the publishing was malicious, libellous, and defamatory and that it should be withdrawn within 24 hours of receiving it.
“We are solicitors to the All Progressive Congress, Edo State chapter, (hereinafter refer to as our client), on whose behalf we write you this letter,” the solicitor’s letter to Vanguard begins.
According to our brief, your newspaper’s page 15 featured a libellous, defamatory, and malicious article in which you identified the aforementioned faces as “APC thugs,” “as published by Vanguard Newspaper today (Tuesday).”
“You described the above gentlemen’s photos as ‘Edo State Airport Violence faces of suspected criminals,’ according to our brief.
“We respectfully disagree with your bold, malicious, libellous, and defamatory publication, which has no basis in law. The publication is intended to damage the reputation of the All Progressive Congress, Edo State chapter, in the eyes of the public, since our client filed a thorough petition with the Inspector General of Police regarding the incident that occurred at the Benin Airport on July 18, 2024. The petition is currently being investigated by the police.
In light of the foregoing, our client hereby requests that the aforementioned malicious, libellous, and defamatory publication be immediately retracted within twenty-four hours of this letter’s receipt.
“Our client also requests that a letter of apology be placed inside your newspaper’s entire cover.”
If the penultimate paragraphs are broken, the attorney said, “we will be left with no choice but to institute both criminal and civil action against the newspaper.”
