…How corrupt journalists agreed to spread lies against oil company, founder

…Desist or face the law – Nestoil

This minute, journalism suffers the affliction of rapscallions; practitioners embodying the character of professionals without discipline, parade themselves as Nigeria’s Fourth Estate of the realm.

From their misdeeds, however, it is clear how cruelly the pen manifests more than the sword. On their watch, a cruel story runs on wheels, and their misshapen whim and sullied hands oil the wheels as they run.

Whatever the tenor of justification advanced by them for their malpractices, it would never hold before the beaming brightness of good.

Just recently, the social space became rife with fake news published and circulated on social media and some online news media,

The news media had recently lent themselves as devious tools for Nestoil’s detractors, with the intent to defame the company and its founder’s hard-earned repute.

These culprits cum publishers of malicious lies alleged that Nestoil Limited and its Group Managing Director (GMD), Dr. Ernest Azudialu – Obiejesi, are the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for financial crimes and fraudulent activities.

Reacting to their claims, the Nestoil Group has described the accusations as baseless, misconceived, and malicious.

The truth according to the oil company is that one of its bankers, whose loan

had been repaid by about 90 percent, had, despite pending litigation with subsisting court orders of status quo, petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) on the same matter but in the process made misleading allegations, which EFCC had later discovered as incorrect and misleading. In a statement signed by the company’s management, Nestoil noted that the EFCC had further observed that there was indeed pending litigation with subsisting orders of status quo made by the Federal High Court binding the parties (ie. Nestoil and the bank ) the facility in question had evidently been restructured by the petitioner-Bank.

The anti-graft agency, consequently, directed the cleaning of the erroneous marking on the property at Ikoyi belonging to one of the affiliates of the Nestoil Group, thereby closing out the matter since June 2021, after openly warning the bank for misleading the commission with false allegations in relation to the loan facility. Again, EFCC had noted that the subject matter of the petition was purely civil involving a bank and its customer in the ordinary course of business and had no iota of criminality.

According to Nestoil, “It should be emphasised that at no time did the EFCC take over the said Ikoyi property neither was it pledged as collateral to the Bank. Again, Dr. Ernest Azudialu -Obiejesi, was neither the subject matter of the petition nor the concluded EFCC investigation. Similarly, Nestoil Tower located at Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, was neither charged to the Bank, marked by EFCC nor formed part of the concluded investigation, as had been misrepresented in the mischievous stories.”

Consequently, the Nestoil Group has demanded that the online media houses who had been publishing various defamatory, injurious and disparaging stories, which appear to be sponsored by the company’s detractors, to desist from their nefarious activities and publish retractions with the same degree of publicity and intensity as their related stories.

The affected news publishers, according to the oil company, had in the process of their unprofessional conduct, resorted to criminal blackmail and extortion thus tarnishing the image of large segments of the Nigerian press.

Nestoil subsequently warned that their activities attract both criminal and civil consequences under the law.

”Failure to desist, cease and publish widely circulated retractions and apologies in respect of your aforesaid offensive publications within seven (7) days from date of first publication of this notice may compel us to initiate a criminal process pursuant to section 24 (and other relevant sections) of Cybercrimes Act 2015 and any other relevant Nigerian penal Laws in that regard. For the avoidance of doubt, the punishment for this offense under section 24(b) of the Cybercrimes Act is a fine of N7,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of three years or both. This is without prejudice to our rights to seek substantial damages for defamation and injurious falsehood, which rights are reserved,” according to the oil company.