Court Rules On GTBanks Case Against Four Journalists

A Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos State, has struck out the cyberstalking and defamation case filed by Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) against four journalists.

The case, marked FHC/L/774C/2024, was dismissed by Justice Ayokunle Faji after the prosecution, led by Chief Ajibola Aribisala (SAN), informed the court that GTCO and the defendants had reached an out-of-court settlement.

The prosecution confirmed that all allegations against the journalists had been withdrawn, with supporting documents submitted to the court.

The journalists—Precious Eze, Olawale Rotimi, Rowland Olonishuwa, and Seun Odunlami—were arrested in September 2024 by the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), Lagos, following a petition filed by GTCO.

The case had drawn widespread public attention, with critics accusing the bank of using the legal system to intimidate independent media voices.

In October 2024, the Nigeria Police re-arraigned the four journalists on fresh charges before the Federal High Court in Lagos, escalating the case from two counts of cyberstalking and false publication to 10 counts, including conspiracy, cyberstalking, false and misleading publication, extortion, threats, and causing financial losses.

The original charges, filed on September 27, 2024, alleged that the journalists had published reports intended to “insult” GTCO’s Chief Executive Officer, Segun Agbaje.

Justice Faji had ordered their remand at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre, a move condemned by press freedom advocates as an attempt to stifle independent journalism.

The prosecution had claimed that the journalists, along with others still at large, conspired to cyberstalk and publish misleading allegations against GTCO, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the broader banking sector, allegedly to incite financial panic.

Aribisala further argued that the defendants attempted to extort GTCO by fabricating “false, misleading, and unsubstantiated allegations” aimed at damaging the bank’s reputation and orchestrating a media campaign to cause a decline in GTCO’s shares and market value.

According to the prosecution, their actions violated multiple provisions of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015, and the Criminal Code Act, Cap. C 38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Despite the accusations, the journalists maintained their innocence, pleading not guilty to all charges.

Their lawyer, Olakunle Afolabi, had challenged the fresh amendments to the charges, arguing that they were an attempt to extend the journalists’ unlawful detention.

With the latest court ruling, the journalists have now been freed from prosecution.