The Nation Newspaper

Tag: businessman

  • Businessman sues Airtel for N2b over Sms

    Airtel has been taken to court by an Ibadan-based businessman, Mr. Wole Abisoye, for non-delivery of short messages services (SMS).

    He is claiming N2 billion as damages for the non-delivery of the text messages as “a breach of the defendant’s obligation to him”.

    Abisoye is claiming that Airtel failed to deliver 17 short message services (sms) sent on its network since January 1, 2012.

    In an originating summon filed by his counsel, Luqman Laoye,  Abisoye said he sent New Year messages to 20 of his business associates and clients using his Airtel number but only three of the messages were delivered.

    He said Airtel deducted charges for the 20 messages whereas it failed to deliver all the messages.

    The businessman claimed that he lodged a complaint on the issue to the  company at one of the branches of Airtel in Ibadan which was not attended to.

    He said his  repeated complaints were equally not attended to at the Ibadan office of the telecommunication company.

    Abisoye said his complaints were lodged at Airtel office on Secretariat Road, Mokola, five days after he sent the messages in January, 2012.

    In the statement of claim, also signed by his lawyer, Laoye, the businessman claimed that the non-delivery of the messages has brought him to ridicule and loss of goodwill as his clients and associates ‘have refused to patronise him again, a situation that forced him to instruct his lawyer to sue the company.’

    “The claimant has suffered monumental embarrassment, ridicule, loss of goodwill, trust and confidence from his clients and business associates, who believe he was lying when he asserted that he sent New Year messages to them through the defendant’s network which have not been delivered till date.

    “The claimant had also lost many lucrative businesses from his clients and business associates, who have refused to patronize him again on the promise that, he, the claimant, is not worthy of transacting business with on account of his perceived deceit with respect to the non-delivery of the New Year text messages he (claimant) allegedly sent to his clients and business associates”, Laoye said.

  • Community head accuses businessman of threatening the peace

    Community head accuses businessman of threatening the peace

    The traditional head of Oko-Olomi community, Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area of Lagos State, Oba Tajudeen Elemoro, has accused a businessman, Oluwafemi Bakare, of engaging in acts capable of threatening public peace.
    The accusation is contained in Elemoro’s counter affidavit to a fundamental rights enforcement application filed by Bakare and others before the High Court, Lagos. He averred, in a supporting affidavit, that as against the businessman’s claim, he was a victim of Bakare’s alleged violent activities.
    Bakare, the head of Eleku family, Tajudeen Mojeed Eleku and four others had sued Chief Shamba Elemoro, Ola Olowu, Semsi Elemoro and Molikiu Raji and accused them of instigating men of the Nigeria Police against them
    The plaintiffs accused Elemoro and others of petitioning the police and seeking their arrest for alleged violent conduct.
    They urged the court to restrain the police and their agents from inviting, arresting and detaining them in respect of the petition purportedly written by the defendants.
     Elemoro averred that contrary to Bakare’s deposition that he and others have been exercising unhindered right of ownership over a disputed piece of land at Oko-Olomi village, Olowu who is the Baale of the village (and one of the defendants) was the victim of the violent activities of the applicants.
    Insisting that the disputed land belonged to his family, Elemoro stated that the said land was excised to their family by the state government.
    Elemoro further averred that the state government acquired all the land from Moaroko to Epe in 1981 and repeated the acquisition in 1993 but in 2007 the government vide a Gazzete dated 22 February, 2007 returned some of the land acquired from his family to them.
    “It is not, therefore, true that when Oba Tajudeen Olowu became the Oba he planned to take over the land belonging to the applicants by using the police. Rather, the police were carrying out their lawful duties after a petition was written to the Inspector General of Police, complaining of the applicant’s violent activities.
    “The real intention of the applicants in filing this suit is to obtain an order of the court with which they can forcefully enter the defendants’ family land granted them through excision in the Gazette of 2007,” he stated.
    He further averred that Bakare was never arrested as claimed. He stated that Bakare  was only invited by the Area Commander of Area J Police Station. He stated that after the businessman was interviewed by the police,  it became clear that he is not a member of the Okunnu Eleku family and that the respondents have always reported his activities to the police.
    Justice A. Oluwafemi while adjourning the case to September 25 ordered that status quo be maintained.