The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has issued a cease and desist notice to Segun Olatunji, Editor of FirstNews, over allegedly false and malicious defamatory articles published in January and April 2024.
BELLNEWS reports that Gbajabiamila’s solicitor, Dr. Kemi Pinheiro, demanded a public apology and retraction within seven days, warning of legal implications under cybercrime laws and civil and criminal proceedings.
Pinheiro warned against further dissemination of the contents, citing potential legal action under various laws, including the Cybercrime Prohibition and Prevention Act 2015 and the Criminal and Penal Codes.
Gbajabiamila’s team alerted the public to a coordinated campaign of calumny against him and urged those already hosting the publications to cease and desist.
The lawyer is seeking exemplary and aggravated damages, an injunction, retraction, and a public apology in two national dailies if Segun Olatunji fails to respond satisfactorily.
According to the letters dated May 3, 2024, Gbajabiamila’s attention was drawn to the series of “deliberate and coordinated malicious campaigns of calumny against his person in various print, electronic media, and social media platforms.” He stated that the articles and interview were published on January 28, 2024, and April 6, 2024, respectively, and were allegedly republished and circulated on various platforms.
The law firm stated that the publications falsely and maliciously portrayed Gbajabiamila as a fraudulent, corrupt, dishonest, shady, unreliable, and disloyal person who is unfit to hold the exalted office of Chief of Staff to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
They demanded that Olatunji, within seven days of receipt of the letter, cause to be published in two national newspapers a full-page unequivocal public retraction and apology in terms to be approved by their firm.
Furthermore, Pinheiro advised the “unsuspecting members of the public who are already indulged or may be tempted to indulge in the dissemination of these obviously false and defamatory contents to immediately cease and desist from sharing, posting, forwarding, or disseminating the said contents or otherwise engage in cyberstalking of our client, premised on the defamatory words contained in the aforementioned interview and article.
“Unless this warning is heeded, our client will not hesitate to ensure that such perpetrators face the wrath of the law as provided for under Section 24 of the Cybercrime Prohibition and Prevention Act 2015, Sections 375 and 376 of the Criminal Code, and Sections 391, 392, 393, 394, and 395 of the Penal Code as well as a civil action in defamation.”