4th November, 2010
A Lagos lawyer, Mr. Chris Ekemezie, alleged to have been defrauded by a private limited liability company, Coscharis Nigeria Limited, has slammed a N500 million suit on the said company.
In his claims filed before a Federal High Court in Lagos, Mr. Ekemezie alleged that on 13 May, 2005, Coscharis, in conjunction with the Nigeria Police Force, invaded the warehouse of one Miss Aina Chang, a Chinese and her Nigerian business partner, Mr. Leonard Nwoye and forcefully, without any lawful authority, broke into the warehouse and carted away goods worth millions of naira.
Sequel to this development, the duo of Miss Chang and Nwoye engaged Mr. Ekemezie, as a professional lawyer, to ventilate their right against Coscharis and the Nigeria Police.
The claimants successfully challenged the acts and conducts of the defendants and Justice Ramat Mohammed ruled on 26 August, 2005, declaring the forceful breaking, removal and seizure as well as continuous detention of the claimants’ goods from the warehouse illegal, null and void.
The defendants then filed a stay of execution of the court’s ruling but was dismissed, while another application for stay of execution filed at the Appeal Court was also dismissed.
Thereafter, the police handed over the goods over to the bailiff of the court, who in turn handed them over to the claimants.
Notwithstanding, Coscharis, on 15 August, 2006, caused its lawyer to write a petition to the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee, captioned “Petition against Barrister Chris Ekemezie for professional misconduct in fraudulently and illegally releasing goods in the custody of the police subject of pending suit without the issuance of writ of execution.â€
In view of this malicious letter potraying him as a fraudulent person on 17 July, 2008, the Body of Benchers formally charged him for professional misconduct, consequent upon which he faced trial from 2008 to October, 2009 and in the course of the trial, his name was advertised in newspapers.
Mr. Ekemezie averred that by the trial and its repeated advertisement in newspapers, his person suffered immense public image destruction among his peers, clients, family members and the general public.
Therefore, his claim against Coscharis is in the sum of N500 million as compensation for his damaged image through false, malicious and defamatory publication as well as an order of injuction restraining the defendant from further publication to defame him.
