By Bassey Udo
For failing to appear in court to defend his defamation claims in connection with the subsisting N170.3m alleged contract fraud against him, the Chairman of Zinox Group, Leo Stan Ekeh, was on Thursday slammed with a N150,000 fine by the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Gwagwalada, Abuja.
The presiding judge, Justice I. Mohammed who imposed the fine against Mr Ekeh said he did not only fail to appear in court to defend his case, but his lawyers neglected to file their statement of defence and other court processes to all parties in the case, despite receiving the court summons since last April.
Before pronouncing the fine against Ekeh, the judge reprimanded his misconduct and that of his lawyers, led by Mr Emmanuel Agwungwu, accusing them of refusing to serve the court processes on all parties and waiting several months before filing his statement of defence less than 24 hours to the court’s scheduled commencement of hearing.
The Judge rejected the argument by Ekeh’s lawyers that they were unable to fulfill the important legal obligation because they received a formal briefing on the case by their client only last July.
Justice Mohammed said although there was ample evidence to show that Ekeh received the summons since last April, even if the claim by his lawyers was true that they were briefed about the case in July, they ought to have filed their statement of defence and all parties served the processes at least a week before the scheduled date for the hearing.
By so doing, the judge said all parties, including the respondent, who had to travel all the way from Ibadan in Oyo State to attend the court seating, would have become aware that the court hearing was not going to hold as previously scheduled.
The initial attempt by the claimants’ lawyer to serve Ekeh with the court summons began in January 2025. But after Ekeh evaded service on several occasions in Abuja and Lagos, the court, last April, granted the request for a substituted service on him through his known address on WhatsApp, in addition to pasting the court processes in front of his office addresses.
On June 10, 2025, when the case came up for mention, Ekeh failed to put up appearance in court. He did not send a legal representation nor filed his statement of defence, thereby compelling the judge to adjourn the case till October 30, 2025.
At the hearing on Thursday, Jude Mmuoka of Mmuoaka & Associates, who are the lawyers to Benjamin Joseph, the Managing Director of Citadel Oracle Concept Limited, the claimants in the case, had told the court that despite the fact that the case was slated for hearing on Thursday, Ekeh’s lawyers only served him with their client’s statement of defence by about 6:30 pm on Wednesday, October 29, 2025.
Mr Mmuoka told the court that the refusal by Eke’s lawyers to file their legal processes and serve same to his chambers on time prior to the court sitting was a deliberate ploy to truncate the business of the day, apparently to frustrate, by denying him and his client sufficient time needed to file adequate response to their statement of defence.
Although Mr Mmuoka demanded for a cost of N2m only against Ekeh as compensation for the inconveniences his client suffered to travel all the way from Ibadan, Oyo State to attend the court hearing, the learned Judge in his ruling awarded N150,000 only, before adjourning further hearing in the case till January 2026.
Ekeh’s open letter to Tinubu
On January 16, 2024, Ekeh published a full-page advertorial in Thisday newspapers which he personally signed, titled: “Open Letter To President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR – Addressing Corporate Blackmail, Multinational Exits, And Propelling A New Economy.”
In the publication, Ekeh lamented over the menace of “Corporate Blackmail” in the country, saying while acknowledging the “challenges of FOREX scarcity, security and infrastructure gaps as barriers to the President achieving his Renewed Hope vision”, he claimed “the escalating problem of corporate bullying and blackmail was of pressing concern demanding immediate attention.”
“This has become an emerging, but very destructive business model in our country, and unfortunately, the legal system is handicapped to protect the victims because of the years it takes to discharge a case,” he claimed.
“Some structured companies cannot tolerate it and therefore use FOREX as an excuse to exit. A lot of companies are going through this, including our upcoming knowledgeable entrepreneurs who sweat to raise funds, and if nothing is done urgently, a lot more shall exit,” he added.
Citing Zinox Technologies Limited, an affiliate of Zinox Group, in which he is the Chairman, as an example of the victims of syndicated corporate bullying, Ekeh drew the attention of the President to what he claimed the company had been going through in the hands of Benjamen Joseph, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Citadel Oracle Concepts Limited based in Ibadan, “with his clique”.
“This gentleman has been blackmailing my companies, my wife, and myself on selected media platforms with the intent to defame us for the past ten years. I have never met this young man before, nor has Zinox ever transacted any business with him. The only connection is that one of my companies, TD Africa Distributions Limited … extended a structured credit facility to his Citadel Oracle Concept to execute a genuine contract they secured at FIRS,” he alleged.
He claimed further in the publication that “it is the bullying and blackmail actions of the likes of Mr Joseph and his clique that contribute to our low attraction of foreign direct investments”, and called on the President to ensure that justice was done.
Citadel Oracle sues for defamation
In their reaction to the publication, Citadel Oracle and Mr Joseph jointly and severally filed suit No. FCT/HC/GAR/491/24 at the FCT High Court, Abuja on October 11, 2024 seeking the order of the court to repudiate the publication by Ekeh in its entirety and declare that its contents were not only defamatory, but sought to render their public image in gross disrepute and opprobrium.
Apart from an order of perpetual injunction to restrain Ekeh and his agents from further sponsoring such damaging publications, the claimants, through their lawyer, Jude Mmuoka of Mmuoka & Associates, demanded a public apology to be published in Thisday, Punch and Guardian newspapers for two months.
In addition, the claimants asked for an award of N10billion as general, punitive, aggravated and exemplary damages for the malicious and defamatory publication as well as N20million as cost, with 35 percent interest on the judgment sum from the date of judgment till full liquidation.
Trail of lies; distorted facts
In their statement of claims, the claimants accused Ekeh of deliberately publishing falsehood in his open letter to the President, saying contrary to his claim that he never met with Joseph, nor had any business with his company, the motivation for the publication stemmed from his dissatisfaction with the legal approaches by Citadel Oracle over the disagreement as a result of a transaction, which he decided to masquerade himself as a symbol of transparency when the case is still pending in court.
The claimants disputed claims by Ekeh that Technology Distributions Limited extended a structured credit to Citadel Oracle Concept Limited; that a partner’s uncle guaranteed the extended credit facility; that Mr Joseph wanted to divert the money paid by FIRS and she refused, because her uncle guaranteed the facility, and that Citadel Oracle resorted to blackmailing Ekeh’s wife and kids for reasons best known to him.
Back story
In October 2013, Joseph petitioned then Inspector General of Police (IGP) over a fraud against his company involving some persons suspected to be top officials of Zinox Group and its affiliate, Technology Distributions Limited (now TD Africa) in connivance with some allies.
The fraud involved a N170.3 million contract awarded Citadel Oracle Concept Limited by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for the supply of laptops in 2012.
Joseph said the contract was hijacked by the suspects, who illegally executed it and its proceeds shared, without his knowledge and consent, while the appropriate tax was not remitted to the government.
He said the fraud was perpetrated in connivance with some officials of Access Bank PLC using his company’s corporate profile obtained from the bank.
He said the suspects had illegally appointed themselves signatories of a fake account No. 0059202675 opened in the name of his company at Access Bank using forged documents, including a fictitious company board resolution dated December 18, 2012, bearing a caricature of his signature.
A review of the transaction documents, he said, revealed the perpetrators of the crime to include the Legal Adviser/Company Secretary, Zinox Group and Technologies Distributions Limited (TD), Chris Eze Ozims; a director in TD, Folashade Oyebode; the Accountant with TD, Charles Adigwe; the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of both Ad’mas Technologies Limited and Pirovic Engineering Services Limited, Onny Igbokwe, and his accomplice, Princess O. Kama, along with two staff of Access Bank PLC, namely Obilo Onuoha and Deborah Ojeabo.
Police stalled the prosecution of suspects
The police investigation report on the matter found the suspects culpable and recommended that they should be charged for “forgery, conspiracy, impersonation and fraud”.
But their arraignment and prosecution by the police has since stalled. The suspects used their connections with the police hierarchy to frustrate their prosecution. Despite repeated requests by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), the police, through its prosecutor, Simon Lough, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), refused to release the case file to the AGF’s office.
On May 8, 2015, Joseph wrote to the then Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Bureau (FCIB), Solomon Arase who refused to approve the prosecution of the suspects.
When Arase was later appointed the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Joseph wrote to him again to highlight his frustrations to get the suspects prosecuted.
Presidency intervened
In September 2015, Joseph petitioned then Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, who directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to look into the matter.
But, in June 2016, IGP Arase, shortly before leaving office, ordered that Joseph should be arraigned and tried on a one-count charge of “false petitioning.” He was arraigned by police prosecutor, Simon Lough, under charge No CR/216/16, for allegedly misleading the DIG FCIID through false petitioning in case of identity theft, impersonation and criminal conversion of contract worth over N170 million committed against his company. Witnesses against him were the suspects.
Meanwhile, the EFCC quizzed some of the suspects, including Chioma Ekeh, the director of TD and wife of the Chairman of Zinox Group, Stan Leo Ekeh. At the end, the findings by the anti-graft agency confirmed the involvement of eight suspects, including Ekeh.
However, the EFCC, on June 18, 2018, opted to arraign and charge only two of the suspects – Igbokwe and Kama.
Despite protests by Joseph’s lawyers, EFCC prosecutor, Jude Obozuwa, went ahead to prosecute them based on charges not derived from the facts contained in the petition by Joseph to the IGP that the fraud was committed based on the forgery of Citadel Oracle’s Board Resolution dated December 18, 2012.
But, the EFCC prosecutor charged the two suspects based on a non-existent document dated December 14, 2012. He refused to make amends to the observed errors in the charge sheet.
At the end of the trial, Justice Danlami Senchi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Jabi, on February 24, 2021 discharged and acquitted the two suspects in controversial circumstances based on the deliberate contradictions and non-diligent prosecution by the EFCC.
Curiously, Joseph, who was not a party to the case, was fined N20 million, allegedly for refusing to appear during the hearings to defend his case.
Joseph petitioned the then Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, to complain against the “unjustified persecution”.
On November 15, 2021, the DPP, on behalf of the AGF, took over the continued trial of Joseph by the police in the case that was pending before Justice Peter Ekekemeke of the FCT High Court, Maitama.
Also, on May 10, 2022, AGF Malami approved the request by Femi Falana for special powers to prosecute the suspects. Consequently, a 17-count charge was filed by Falana on September 9, 2022 at the High Court of the FCT against the suspects.
Those listed in the charge sheet for arraignment included the Chairman of Zinox Group, Leo Stan Ekeh, his wife, Chioma, and 11 others suspected to have been implicated in the N170.3 million fraud.
Other suspects included the Legal Adviser/Company Secretary, Zinox Group and Technologies Distributions Limited (TD), Chris Eze Ozims; a director in TD, Folashade Oyebode; the Accountant with TD, Charles Adigwe; the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of both Ad’mas Technologies Limited and Pirovic Engineering Services Limited, Onny Igbokwe, and his accomplice, Princess O. Kama, along with two staff of Access Bank PLC, namely Obilo Onuoha and Deborah Ojeabo. The three companies linked with the alleged fraud following findings through police investigations included Technologies Distributions Limited (TD), Ad’mas Technologies Limited and Pirovic Engineering Services Limited.
But, on November 8, 2022 when the suspects were scheduled to be arraigned before Justice C. O. Oba, a letter signed by the DPP Babadoko Abubakar, on behalf of the AGF, and addressed to Falana, was read in court directing that the trial be terminated, as the prosecutorial powers had been withdrawn. Consequently, the Judge struck out the case against the suspects.
Although the charge against Joseph by the police for alleged false petitioning that was going on before Justice Peter Kekemeke of the FCT High Court was later terminated in June 2024, following a nolle prosequi entered by AGF Lateef Fagbemi, the suspects have continued to deploy all sorts of schemes to harass and witch-hunt him.
Despite the fiat donated by the AGF to Falana to prosecute them for the crime, the suspects exploited their connections to frustrate and shoot it down, while using the police to hound and several frivolous court processes to shield them. The publication of the open letter to the President by Ekeh was part of the schemes by the suspects.
