DEFAMATORY WORDS

• Date: 06 February 2019

(1) "In Dina v. New Nigerian Newspaper (1986) 2 N.W.L.R. (Pt. 22) 353, it was held that: - "In determining whether certain words are defamatory, the Court or Judge’s duty is to apply the reasonable man’s test, that is whether under the circumstances in which the words were uttered or published, a reasonable man or reasonable persons of ordinary intelligence to whom the publication was made would likely understand them in a libelous sense." - Per Edozie, J.C.A. in Esika v. Medolu Suit No. CA/J/75/94; (1997) 2 N.W.L.R. (Pt. 485) 54 at 68.

(2) "Next for determination is whether the words complained of in paragraph 6 of the appellant’s statement of claim are infact defamatory of the appellant as he claimed. In deciding whether a word is capable of defamatory meaning, the Court will reject that meaning which can only emerge as the product of strained or forced or utterly unreasonable interpretation. See: Dumbo v. Idugboe (1983) S.C.N.L.R. 29 at 48. The test is whether under the circumstances in which the writing was published, reasonable men to whom the publication was made would be likely to understand them in libelous sense. See: Jones v. Skelton (1963) 1 W.L.R. 1362. The meaning ascribed to the whole of Exhibit 1 and paragraph 6 of the appellant’s statement of claim by the learned trial Judge is quite in order. In any case this Court is also in as a good position as the trial Judge is quite in order. In any case this Court is also in as a good position as the trial Court to determine what is natural and ordinary meaning of the words complained of. See the Sketch Publishing Co. Ltd. v. Alhaji Ajagbemokeferi (1989) 1 N.W.L.R. (Pt. 100) 678. In this respect I entirely agree with the inferences drawn by the learned trial Judge from the evidence before him including Exhibit 1 that the contents of Exhibit 1 and particularly paragraph 6 of the appellant’s statement of claim are not defamatory. I have myself scrutinized the contents of the alleged defamatory words and having regard to the evidence adduced by the appellant. I have also drawn the same inference from those words and came to the conclusion that the words were not infact defamatory. The exercise here is to give the words complained of their natural and ordinary meaning. It would have been otherwise if the trial Judge had based his findings entirely on credibility of the witnesses. See: Akinola v. Oluwo (1962) 1 All N.L.R. 224, (1962) 1 S.C.N.L.R. 352. In fact taking into consideration the...