…Demands Public Apology
A socio/cultural and political pressure group established for the protection and development of Owerri Federal Constituency has given ultimatum to its former coordinator for Owerri North LGA, Chief Ezenwa Ihenacho to pay it the sum of #500M and render a public apology that will be published in two national newspapers within 5 days for defaming the character of the members or have the wrath of the law unleashed on him for failure to do so.
In a letter addressed to Chief Ihenacho through his counsel, Asika Ilobi, counsel for Nzuko Owere, Ngozi Olehi SAN traced the defamatory action of Ezenwa to a letter he wrote to the Corporate Affairs Commission demanding the withdrawal of his name and person from further participation in the affairs of Nzuko Owere General Assembly. In the said letter, Ezenwa described members of the organization as “questionable characters”. In his exact words, the “said organization has (sic) been hijacked by persons of questionable character and its originally intended mission and motto utterly compromised…”
The Senior Advocate and counsel to Nzuko Owere said his client has been badly injured by the labelling whereof the integrity of the members has been mindlessly and inexcusably damaged. “The generalization contained in your letter to the Corporate Affairs Commission relating to the impeccable character and integrity of our client’s membership is not only gravely false but also worrisome”, . He added that “our client will not let this machination pass unremedied. Consequently, we demand that, within five days from the date of your receipt of this letter, your client retracts that imputation of criminality to the members of the Organization.
He must also publish the retraction in two national dailies and send his retraction to the public authorities he copied his first letter to. We also demand payment of five hundred million naira as damages for that defamatory statement that ought not to have been made in the first instance”.
It will be recalled that Chief Ezenwa, until he was removed as Owerri North coordinator for none attendance to meetings was a member of Nzuko Owere, which is a vibrant body of eminent indigenes of Owerri Federal constituency with membership that cut across various professions, past and present public officers of notable caliber and persons with distinguished callings.
It was learnt that for many months Chief Ezenwa absented himself from meetings of the organization leading to the body deciding in their meeting of 16th Dec. 2023 to withdraw him from the position in order to avoid vacuum. It was after this step was communicated to him that Ezenwa wrote the “obnoxious” letter to the Corporate Affairs Commission.
