The Bauchi State High Court Seven has awarded N105 million in damages against Wikki Media and Publications Limited for publishing a libellous report against MinXin Mineral Separation, Ali Arzuka, and Ibrahim Usman Adam.
Details of the judgment, made available to journalists in Bauchi on Thursday, showed that the presiding judge, Justice Abdulkadir Lamido, awarded N100 million as general damages and an additional N5 million as cost of action, totalling N105 million.
Justice Lamido held that the publication by Wikki Times—alongside a picture of notorious terrorist kingpin, Dogo Gide—was defamatory and damaging to the reputation of the plaintiffs.
He ordered the media outfit to publish a written public apology and retraction to the plaintiffs on its online platform and in three nationally circulated newspapers.
The court further directed Wikki Times to pull down and erase from the internet all defamatory stories and images relating to the plaintiffs published since September 16, 2023. The judge also restrained the media organisation from issuing any similar libellous publication against the claimants in the future.
Our correspondent gathered that the plaintiffs, through their counsel, Barrister Emmanuel Danjuma, had initially sought N10 billion as aggravated and general damages, and an additional N10 million as cost of action.
The plaintiffs told the court that on September 16, 2023, the defendants published a story titled “INVESTIGATION: Inside Secret Details of How Chinese Allied Miners Bribed Dogo Gide Terror Group to Access Mining Sites in Niger State”, in which they allegedly inserted a manipulated photograph replacing the Niger State Governor with the image of Dogo Gide, with the plaintiffs’ names placed underneath.
They argued that the publication, widely accessible online, maliciously portrayed them as collaborators of a terrorist organisation, exposing them to “hatred, ridicule, and public shunning”.
The plaintiffs also accused the defendants of publishing additional defamatory claims, including allegations that terrorists seized mined stones, received weekly bribes of N3 million, and that one of the plaintiffs had supposedly engaged in discussions with Dogo Gide’s mother.
They insisted the statements were false and damaging, noting that they hold valid mining leases—ML45933 and ML4314—in Shiroro LGA of Niger State, each valid for 25 years.
However, in their defence, the defendants, represented by Yakubu Mohammed, denied the allegations, maintaining that their work followed due investigative procedure.
“To the best of my knowledge and based on our standard procedures, we always carry out deep investigations before publishing any story,” the defence stated, adding that their findings on mining activities and related insecurity in Niger State were “gruesome and revealing”.
They denied manipulating images, claiming the photograph in question was already in circulation on the Niger State Government’s official pages. The defendants also argued that their report did not specifically refer to the plaintiffs and urged the court to demand strict proof of the claims.
Despite their defence, the court ruled in favour of the plaintiffs and granted the financial and corrective orders accordingly.
