Ex-Nigerian Ambassador Drags Former Foreign Minister, Onyeama To US Court

A former Nigerian Ambassador to Namibia, Onoh Lilian, has lodged a libel suit at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas against Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama.

In the court documents, Onoh accused Onyeama of using a New York-based online newspaper to defame her character.

The counsel to Onoh, Steven Thornton, said the online newspaper, in April, published an article saying the Nigerian Government sacked Onoh on account of misappropriation of N50 million.

Thornton, noted that the media outlet published Onoh’s photograph to ensure the story’s object was not mistaken.

In the court papers, her counsel decried the paper’s portrayal of his client as being corrupt, having informed its global audience of the diversion of funds meant for the running of Nigeria’s High Commission in Namibia.

Also joined in the case is a Permanent Secretary at the ministry, Gabriel Aduda.

The case has been assigned to Judge Jane Boyle for adjudication, but no date has been fixed for the hearing.

In the claimant’s prayers before the judge, Thornton demanded litigation costs, “and all such other and further relief at law and in equity to which Onoh may show herself to be justly entitled”.