Defamation: Enugu Psychiatrist Hospital MD, 3 Consultants Lose Appeal Against Dr. Ndu

Posted by Ignatius Okpara Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Saturday, January 25th, 2025

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Court of Appeal, sitting in Enugu, on Thursday quashed the appeal filed by the Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatrist Hospital, Enugu, FNHE, Dr. Ngozi Unaogu and three other consultant psychiatrists in the hospital, against a senior Nurse of the health institution, Dr. Afam Ndu.

Our Correspondent reports that the appeal Marked CA/E/47/2022, was filed by Dr. Unaogu and the three other Doctors, namely: Ubochi Vincent, Justin Acho and Ugwuonye Onyekachi, challenging the decisions of the Enugu State High Court over defamation of character of Ndu.

The lower court was presided over by Justice E. M. Egumgbe, had on 10th day of December 2012 in her judgment, awarded N2.5m (Two million, five hundred thousand) cost against the four consultant psychiatric doctors, who it was learnt, had accused Ndu of possessing fake Certificates

and not properly employed in the hospital, a development that made the respondent, to approach the court in 2017 to seek for redress.

The hospital MD and others may also face contempt of court because they had been using appeal as their defence prior to Thursday’s ruling a development that made the respondent, to approach the court in 2017 to seek for redress.

But dissatisfied by the ruling of the lower court, the four doctors approached the Appeal Court, insisting that the letter they wrote to the ministry of health, discrediting Ndu, was privileged information.

They based their appeal on two issues: whether the trial court was right when it held inter alia … That the entire contents of the petition against the nurse, which was addressed to the Minister of State for Health as signed by the doctors, are false, malicious, vexations and actionable libel which has caused the nurse odium, contempt, ridicule and caricature before right thinking persons?

However, delivering its judgment on Thursday, the three-man panel, presided over by Hon. Justice Zainab Bage Abubakar, held that the appeal lacked merit and consequently struck it out.

Justice Abubakar stated that the two issues formulated by the appellants did not arise from the said grounds of appeal.

The two contributions from the two other justices agreed with the lead judgement.

Reacting to the court verdict, counsel to Mr. Ndu, Barrister I.O Adani hailed the court’s judgement, stressing that his client would now be in good stead to enforce the judgment of the High Court, which also ordered the doctors to make public apology and publish it in two national daily newspapers.

According to the lawyer, “At the end, the Court of Appeal has once again proved that the court is the last hope of the common man”

Adani added : “All I can say is that it is not only victory for Dr. Afam Ndu , but our society, that gone are the days when somebody will wake up one morning and disseminate false statements with the intent to undermine one another.

“Those statements were indeed defamatory. They were asked to retract it, they refused to do so. Of course, what was left for us was to seek justice” he stated

Efforts to speak with lawyers to the Applicants by Journalists present at the court failed, as they were left shortly after the verdict.