Yushau, a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) presidential award winner and award-winning PR practitioner, is claiming the N500 million from the defendant as general and exemplary damages for defamation of his character through publications in several online media on February 1, 2020.

In the libel suit instituted at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Abuja through his counsel, Yunus AbdulSalam, the plaintiff is praying the court for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendant by himself or his agents from further writing, printing or causing to be printed or circulated any similar libellous materials against him.

He further applied for an order of the court compelling the defendant to tender public apology in at least two national dailies with wide circulation in Nigeria and to retract the alleged libellous and offending publications against him..

The Plaintiff in the suit complained to the court that the defendant published libellous publications against him by calling him an empathizer and spy proxy for the dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group as well as Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP).

In the writ of summons with reference number CV/1705/2020 dated June 3, 2020, and issued against the defendant, plaintiff claimed that the libellous words against his reputation and public image were contained in a rejoinder entitled: “A Rejoinder to An Impenitent Boko Haram Empathizer, Yushau Shuaib Spleen in Memo to President Buhari on Service Chiefs” published by the Authority newspapers online.

He further complained that he was libeled by the defendant in another publication with caption: “A Rejoinder to Shuaib’s Memo to President Buhari on Service Chiefs” published by the Cable newspapers online.

In his Statement of Claim, the plaintiff who claimed to be a graduate of Mass Communication from Bayero University, Kano and Master’s Degree holder in Public Relations from the University of Westminster, London, said that he had bagged several national and international awards including presidential NYSC honour and automatic employments at State and Federal civil service in the course of his duties.

The plaintiff claimed that on January 28, 2020, he wrote a widely published article entitled: “Memo to President Buhari on Service Chiefs” published by The Punch, Premium Times, SaharaReporters and Daily Post newspapers.

In the said article Shuaib claimed that he had argued for the present Service Chiefs to be let go when the ovation is still audible and after giving the best of their skills to the nation while also allowing a smooth progression in service through promotion of other competent military officers, adding that his position was anchored on the necessity of enabling a new cadre of officers to come through in the national security architecture if the war on terror must be won.

However, plaintiff further claimed that to his surprise, few days after, he came across several online publications where he found the offending article targeted at him by Terrence.

He said that the publications damaged his professional reputation and caused him considerable distress, embarrassment and also exposed him to hatred, odium, contempt, scorn and isolation by colleagues and associates..

He said that his name was directly mentioned and described as terrorist empathizer and terrorist spy proxy, adding that the information in the defendants’ publications was false, malicious and defamation with the sole aim of maligning and destroying his hard-earned reputation, goodwill and good standing in the Nigerian media community.

Besides, the plaintiff averred that he has suffered irreparable personal and economic injury in his business because the defendant maliciously referred to him as “Shuaib is only a quack reporter.”

The plaintiff asked the court to grant him all his reliefs and against the defendant as he pleaded several documents including the printout of the offending publications to be relied upon during the hearing of the case.

Meanwhile, no date has yet been fixed for hearing of the matter.

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African PR Practitioners at the conference also re-elected Yomi Badejo-Okusanya from Nigeria as APRA President for another two-year tenure. Robyn de Villiers from South-Africa and Jane Gitau from Kenya were reelected as Vice President and Secretary General of the association respectively.

The annual award organised by the Holmes Report in collaboration with APRA recognises Superior Achievement in Branding Reputation and Engagement (SABRE).

The multiple awards which were presented to the founder of the indigenous Nigeria’s PR firm, Yushau A. Shuaib include Issue and Crisis Management Award for the best campaign through his book “Boko Haram Media War: An Encounter with the Spymaster,” Public Education Award for a Comprehensive Campaign on Prison Decongestion in Nigeria and Certificate of Excellence for Public Sector/Government Campaign undertaken for the Nigerian Prison Service (NPS).

“This year saw not only a significant increase in the number of entries but a real improvement in quality too,” said Paul Holmes, who chaired the SABRE judges. “Across Africa, public relations people are producing creative, innovative, and socially-beneficial PR campaigns, engaging consumers and other stakeholders, and driving meaningful results. The best work in Africa is also among the best work in the world.”

Other award winners at the global event included Burson-Marsteller, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Instinctif Partners, Ogilvy & Mather, Red Media Africa, FleishmanHillard, CMC Connect, Djembe Communication, WE Communication, Reputation Matters, Edelman, Clockwork Media and PRMedia

Speaking on the awards Yushau Shuaib said: “It is an honour for an indigenous PR firm to once again be listed among the leading PR firms in the world for the SABRE awards. The awards encourage us to sustain our professional commitments and working relationship with our stakeholders, clients and communities through our young, creative and wonderful staff.”

The Director of Nigeria’s Defence Information, Brigadier General John Agim and that of Airforce Public Relations Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya who were at the annual event commended the efforts of the publisher of PRNigeria in ensuring adequate and timely release of information on the country’s security agencies in most professional manner.

Image Merchants Promotion Limited consults for critical stakeholders, especially Nigeria’s military, security, intelligence and response agencies. It also covers the economic sector through its intelligence magazine, the Economic Confidential. It also publishes News Digest and Youths Digest magazine.

A globally acclaimed Crisis Communication firm, Image Merchants Promotion has in the last three years won top PR Awards which include: African Excellence Award for the Best PR Platform, SABRE African PR Award on Public Affairs and Golden World Awards from International Public Relations Association (IPRA) on Crisis Communication and Crisis Management Categories respectively.

The SABRE Awards is largest continental awards competition for the public relations industry hosted by the Holmes Report in different continents to celebrate PR campaigns that demonstrate the highest levels of creativity, integrity and effectiveness.

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The bank was dragged before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja by the two plaintiffs who had jointly claimed the N200 million as damages for the hardships inflicted on them by the Bank with the freezing.

In the suit with No. FCT/HC/CV/0657/2018 filed on their behalf by Yunus Abdulsalam, the plaintiffs are praying the court to declare that freezing of their account by the bank as unlawful and a clear breach of the duty of care owed them by the bank.

They are also praying for an order of the Court directing the bank to unfreeze their private, salary, operational and domiciliary accounts of the company and its promoter with Access Bank Plc.

The global award-winning media outfit and its promoter are the publishers of Economic Confidential Magazine and PRNigeria, a public relations firm.

They claimed that they have tried to no avail with the bank to unfreeze their accounts which met brick walls each time and later metamorphosed to their solicitors writing the final letter to the bank.

In the suit, Shuaib says that the inexplicable freezing of his account has kept him struggling to meet up with his responsibilities as the breadwinner of his family thereby putting his four children, wife and aged parents into a state of avoidable hardship.

Also due to the inexplicable freezing of the accounts, the company claims that its businesses have suffered the following catastrophic developments: Over 20 employees and volunteers in the payroll resigned their employment because of the inability of the company to access its salary account for the purpose of paying monthly salary; The company has also lost patronage as it can no longer advise clients to pay into the operational accounts knowing fully well no withdrawal could be made to execute the job of its clients.

In addition, the media outfit says that the freezing of its Domiciliary Account prevented its financial obligations to foreign partners, subscriptions to products, services and professional membership fees. It also added that for the first time since inception, the company’s monthly print edition of the Economic Confidential Magazine could not see the light of the day.

Their solicitors had written a letter dated 21st December 2017 and addressed to the Branch Manager, Access Bank Plc, Plot 1244, Samuel Ladoke Akintola Boulevard, Garki 2, Abuja, and received same day, the bank was informed that failure to unfreeze their accounts within seven days will resort to court action as there has been no official explanation by the bank.

The plaintiffs further claimed that since “the absence of their clients from the public service, Mallam Yushau Shuaib has been the alter ego of Image Merchants Promotions Ltd- the publisher of the widely read Economic Confidential Magazine and whose subsidiary is a leading and multi-international award-winning PR firm, PRNigeria.

They claimed that from the record of accounts in question, it was clear that the firm has been carrying out legitimate business of PR consultancy with a vast clientele base especially from the security and financial sectors of the Nigerian economy.

Plaintiffs claimed that they asked for an explanation from their mutual account officer as to the lawful justification upon which their accounts were frozen by the bank and that the response was rather evasive, opaque and vague.

Therefore, the Plaintiffs applied for an order of the Court in directing the defendant to unfreeze the four accounts and also sought for an order of the Court in awarding the sum of N200m only being general and exemplary damages against the bank for unlawful freezing of their account and breach of duty of care owed to them by the bank.

In addition, the plaintiffs demanded another sum of N1M against the bank being the cost of the suit. They also sought payment of 10% of the judgment sum from the date of delivery of judgment until the entire sum is liquidated.

No date has yet been fixed for the hearing.

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In a 30-paragraph letter addressed to the IGP dated September 11, 2017, the petitioner noted that the team from Lagos had claimed that Governor Ambode of Lagos state was aware of an alleged massive fraud committed in Lagos involving his Son, Gidado Shuaib.

The Police Team, led by one Inspector Babatunde (08056506863, 08081700099) who claimed to have arrived from the Office of the Lagos state Governor had initially informed the wife of the petitioner by telephone that they were from an MTN Team to deliver a seasonal gift to her, which raised suspicions from the wife before her eventual alarm, suspecting them to be a kidnap gang before nearby residents came to her rescue.

The petitioner also resisted the attempt to be taken to Lagos for questioning by the team stressing that he was not the suspect, a move also supported by the Divisional Police Officer of Wuye Police station, CSP Solome Hardy (Mrs.) who categorically told them she would never allow them to take him to Lagos because he was not the suspect of their investigation.

The Petitioner, Yushau Shuaib in the petition to the IGP is demanding the reason and justification for the harassment of himself and especially his wife who has been traumatized since then and undergoing medication and counselling.

Shuaib wrote: “The ridiculous treatment of myself and my wife with the detention in Wuye Police Station before our eventual release is not only appalling and scandalous but a calculated attempt to rubbish our hard-earned reputation, having used the last five years protecting and promoting the activities of security agencies in Nigeria.

“In fact, through PRNigeria Platform alone, we have syndicated and published over 300 official Press Releases from the Police in the last two years of the current administration as part of our social responsibility to our fatherland.

“While we have been threatened by terrorists and their sympathisers in the cause of our services, it is rather unfortunate that the police are now our tormentors.

“My fear, currently is not about me, my family or my son who will surely confront the Police with his lawyers over the reckless allegation on his return. My fear is: what may be happening to other ordinary Nigerians who do not have people in police or security agencies to put words on their behalf?

“Only God knows how many lives could have been lost with the kind of recklessness exhibited by the Lagos Police Team that engages in the gestapo-like operation of picking up people without providing the information on their alleged offences.”

The petitioner, therefore, urged the Police boss to provide clear information of the alleged offences purportedly committed by his son; to direct one Inspector Babatunde (08056506863, 08081700099) to stop threatening them with phone calls insisting they must be in Lagos in the absence of their son.

He also urged the police to tender unreserved apology for treating his family like a common criminal without adequate proof of the allegations.

Shuaib further disclosed that his ordeal contravenes a clear provision of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 which prohibits the arrest of another person in place of a suspect. He also pointed out that with the unprofessional and questionable manner of the Lagos Police Team, he urged the Police boss to transfer the case to any of your Special Investigation Units in the Force Headquarters or to the FCT Police Command

Shuaib said that with his strict monitoring and parental guidance over his children, he should also be held liable if his son is found guilty of the alleged offence. “I am not only a guardian but a Father in every sense of the word,” he concluded.

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The PR outfit had previously received SABRE African Public Affairs Award hosted by African Public Relations Association (APRA) in Casablanca, Morocco and Golden World Award (GWA) on Crisis Management from International Public Relations Association (IPRA) in Doha, Qatar.

Receiving the latest award including a Finalist Certificate of Excellence in West Africa region, the founder of PRNigeria, Yushau A. Shuaib commended the organisers for recognising the Press Release platform for the honours.

Shuaib said: “We feel honoured and humbled by yet another International Award for best PR practice. This recognition will further motivate us to always put in our best in satisfying our clients and the public with creative and innovative communication strategies.”

In a citation for the award, the organiser described PRNigeria as the most reliable and credible sources of official information from public institutions in the Nigeria.

The citation reads: “PRNigeria has devoted its platforms for syndication, publishing and sharing official press releases from critical institutions, especially Military, Security, Intelligence and Response Agencies and other government organisations in Nigeria.”

The Executive Secretary of a Nigerian based Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC), Air Commodore Yusuf Anas (Rtd) also received a Finalist Certificate on behalf of his organisation for its unique contribution to crisis communication and Public Affairs.

Other recipients of the African Excellence Award are global public relations and communication giants. They include Weber Shandwick, Ogilvy & Mather, FleishmanHillard, Marco de Comunicación, Edelman, Djembe Communications, Burson-Marsteller, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Ogilvy Public Relations, Image Merchants Promotion Ltd, Stratcomm Africa, Clockwork Media and Magna Carta Reputation Management Consultants

The African Excellence Awards honour outstanding performance in a wide range of categories. With in-depth categories which cover everything from internal communications to public relations, as well as a wide scope of industries from all across Africa, the awards explore the full range of the profession and provide a comprehensive look at the most exceptional examples of communications.

The Global Excellence Awards are organised by German-based Quadriga Media, the publishers of Communication Director magazine for corporate communications and public relations, which is distributed worldwide.

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The campaigns were carried out by PRNigeria for the Nigeria military and other security forces at a very critical period in the nation’s war against terrorism.

The IPRA is the world’s highest PR body with members including public relations bodies across the world. The Golden World Awards, often dubbed the ‘Oscars of PR’ are the world’s most prestigious PR awards.

An email to the Publisher of PRNigeria from Member Services Manager of IPRA, Janice Hills states that “I am delighted to inform you that your entry on ‘Managing Security Information on War on Terror in Nigeria’ in the Crisis Management Category is a winner in the 2016 IPRA GWA Awards… Please make a note in the diary for Saturday 5 November 2016 for the IPRA GWA Gala Awards ceremony in Doha, Qatar.”

Through its parent body, Image Merchants Promotions Limited, PRNigeria has been actively engaged in changing the media narratives from Boko Haram propaganda to PR approach strategies of security agencies in Nigeria. It has also remained the major source of official information from military, security, intelligence and response agencies.

The nomination for the award which was screened and judged by a panel of Communication scholars and top PR practitioners in Brussel, Belgium at the weekend, considered PRNigeria’s campaigns as one of the most unique innovation in collaborative efforts in crisis management.

Reacting to the award in Abuja, the Founder and Publisher of PRNigeria, Yushau Abdulhameed Shuaib disclosed that the award could not have been possible without the excellent relationship established and sustained between spokespersons of major security agencies and the media in Nigeria.

Shuaib said: “To us this is not an individual or personal award but an award for all participants in a project that reports Nigeria positively to local and international audiences … It is an award for exemplary leadership qualities and inter-agency collaborations of 17 agencies that form the Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA) which gives birth to Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC).

“It is an award in recognition of the defeat of inter-agency rivalry by speaking with one voice in timely and responsible manner on counterterrorism campaigns and security consciousness in the country

“It is indeed an award for the overwhelming cooperation from traditional and online media for supporting the campaign at the most critical period of insurgency in Nigeria

“That strategic synergy between the security agencies and the media is the genesis for the global award. Therefore, the award is for all the participants in the critical sector of crisis communication in Nigeria.

“Though in an emotional moment like this, we have realised that an employee can be discarded with right hand and yet recruited with left hand to serve the same employer to the best of his ability. We are glad to have humbly and professionally served the system outside the system in the past three years” he concluded.

As the operator of most popular Press Release platform in Nigeria, PRNigeria has over 300 top media executives in its unique mailing list and has issued over 2000 Press Releases on behalf of its clients since its inception in 2013.

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The Golden World Awards are the world’s most prestigious PR awards.

In a congratulatory message to Publishers of PRNigeria, the IPRA Member Services Manager, Janice Hill wrote thus: “Congratulations you are a Golden World Awards Finalist for your entry: Managing Security Information on War on Terror in Nigeria in the Crisis management – Agency category.”

She said that the first round of judging is complete as a number of entries have been put through as finalists for the next round of in-person judging next month in Brussels.

Through its parent body, Image Merchants Promotion, PRNigeria has been actively engaged in changing the media narratives from Boko Haram propaganda to PR approach strategies of security agencies in Nigeria.

It has also remained the major source of official information from military, security, intelligence and response agencies.

Through the establishment of Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA) and subsequent Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC), PRNigeria ensures the sustenance of mutual relationship between the media and security agencies for improved quality of timely and responsible reporting on counter-terrorism and security consciousness campaigns.

As the operator of most popular Press Release platform in Nigeria, PRNigeria has over 300 top media executives in its unique mailing list and has issued over 2000 Press Releases on behalf of its clients since its inception in 2013

Speaking on the awards, the IPRA’s President Bart de Vries stated that: “We have seen some great entries in 2016. There was an excellent spread of geographies with a record number of entries from Russia as well as from countries we have not seen entering previously. Community relations, Consumer PR Event management and Public sector proved especially popular this year.”

IPRA is the leading global network for Public Relations professionals. It aims to further the development of open communication and the ethical practice of public relations. It fulfils this aim through networking opportunities, its code of conduct and intellectual leadership of the profession.

With 60 years of experience, IPRA, recognised by the United Nations, is now present throughout the world wherever public relations are practiced.

The annual IPRA Golden World Awards (GWA) initiative, established in 1990, recognizes excellence in public relations practice worldwide in a variety of categories.

The awards meet international standards of excellence in public relations. An overall IPRA Grand Prix for Excellence is presented each year to the entry judged as representing the highest standards that year.

While there are many national and regional PR awards, there is only one truly global scheme: the GWA.

The Grand Prix 2016 will be announced and special awards presented at a Gala event in November 2016.

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Chief Executive Officer of PRNigeria, Yushau Shuaib while speaking with newsmen in his office in Abuja said the decision to add other sectors to the military and security agencies was taken following the highly successful media campaign that the company held against insurgency and insecurity especially between second quarter of 2013 and late 2015.

Shuaib recalled that before PRNigeria was brought in by the government to help counter the widespread negative narrative of the Boko Haram terrorists, only very few were aware that Nigerian troops were doing anything to counter insurgency.

“PRNigeria have been actively involved in cementing relationship between the media and security agencies in the recent past. And we have succeeded in changing the negative media narrative of the counter-terrorism campaign at a period when the Boko Haram was having the upper hand in the propaganda campaign of the war against Nigeria.

“Our agency also had the responsibility of consulting for the Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA), which has membership from critical public institutions including the military, security, intelligence and response agencies including creating other portals for providing accurate and timely information to the public.”

From now, Shuaib who was for about two decades in the federal civil service promoting the images of various ministries and agencies including Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, National Emergency Management Agency among others said PRNigeria will venture into other important spheres of national life.

“In less than three years, PRNigeria issued over 2,500 releases on behalf of the military, paramilitary and other security agencies. We also collaborated with other bodies like INigerian to rephrase the negative narratives about Nigeria and successfully neutralised voice both nationally and globally.

“Rather than merely issuing press releases, we will now also independently source for credible and newsworthy news items, especially breaking news for the media,” he added.

He said that members of his team were determined to bring their skills to bear on the Nigerian economy and use the experienced garnered in the war against terrorism to also turn around the negative narration about the economy and political stability generally.

The entrepreneur however, advised the Buhari administration to be cautious of actions that may have unintended consequences on the economy but should rather pursue programes and policies that would create job opportunities and stability in the country.

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Senate defence committee chairman Thompson Sekibo made the disclosure after a closed-door meeting with security chiefs.

South African authorities seized the cash from two Nigerians and an Israeli at an airport earlier this month.

A PR firm working for the Nigerian government says the money was for a legitimate arms deal.

The money, in $100 bills, had been stashed in three suitcases when customs officials at Johannesburg’s Lanseria airport seized it from the two Nigerians and Israeli. They were not charged.
Alarm bells rang even louder when it was revealed that the jet belongs to Ayo Oritsejafor, the head of the Christian Association of Nigeria, he says.

The cleric has denied any involvement in the deal.

Sekibo said the senate committee was “digging” to get more details.

“We are still investigating. We have started the investigation. When we get through the investigation, we will brief you. The money belongs to Nigerian government,” he told journalists.

The committee had met Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, and Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Kenneth Minimah, to discuss the issue late on Tuesday.

Earlier, about 50 MPs stormed out of Nigeria’s lower chamber, the House of Representatives, after a motion to discuss the arms deal was blocked.

The deputy speaker said that as it was an issue of national security it could not be broached.

PRNigeria – which has strong links to the security agencies in Nigeria and does communication consultancy for the military – quoted a source as saying the money was for a legitimate government transaction to buy weapons.

Nigeria’s budget for security is around $6bn a year.

But analysts question whether the money is spent in a transparent manner after complaints from soldiers that they are poorly equipped in the fight against militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

The group has waged a brutal insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria since 2009 and caused international outrage in April when it abducted more than 200 schoolgirls.

In recent months, Boko Haram has captured several towns and villages in the north-east, saying it is establishing a caliphate.

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