An Enugu State High Court, presided over by Justice Ngozi Orji, has ordered the imprisonment of Dr. Ngozi Unaogu, Acting Chief Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, along with Dr. Ubochi, Head of Clinical Services, for contempt.
The ruling follows proceedings initiated by Dr. Afam Ndu, principal of the School of Basic Mental Health Nursing at the hospital, who has faced persecution from the management since 2017.
The judgment is expected to provide respite for Dr. Ndu, who has endured years of harassment despite securing a previous court ruling in his favor.
In 2020, Justice Ebele Mabel Egumgbe of the Enugu State High Court ruled in Dr. Ndu’s favor in case No. E712017, awarding him ₦2.5 million in damages and issuing a perpetual injunction barring the defendants, including Dr. Unaogu and Dr. Ubochi, from questioning his qualifications.
Despite this injunction, the defendants ignored the court’s order by forming a committee to investigate Dr. Ndu’s qualifications, claiming the matter was still pending before the Court of Appeal. However, the Enugu Division of the Court of Appeal later dismissed the appeal.
On Monday, Justice Orji ordered Dr. Unaogu and Dr. Ubochi to be held at the Correctional Service until they fully comply with the court’s ruling issued on December 10, 2021, by Justice Egumgbe, which included a perpetual injunction prohibiting the hospital management from further scrutinizing Dr. Ndu’s credentials.
The court determined that the Acting Medical Director and the Head of Clinical Services had violated the court order, particularly noting that Dr. Unaogu had formed a senior staff committee, which she chaired, to scrutinize Dr. Ndu’s NYSC discharge certificate, allegedly on the directive of the Federal Minister of Health and Social Welfare.
Delivering the ruling, the court found that Dr. Unaogu’s actions amounted to a blatant disregard for the court order. Consequently, both defendants were committed to prison, to remain detained until full compliance with the judgment issued on December 10, 2021, by Justice Egumgbe.
History of the Case
Dr. Ndu’s ordeal began in 2017 when he and three other nurses—Buzor Maduka, Tina Okolo, and Sunday Okoli—exposed a job racketeering scheme orchestrated by Mrs. Stella Achalla, the former secretary to Dr. Jojo Onwukwe, the then Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital.
Mrs. Achalla was later convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison, with an order to refund the ₦15 million she had fraudulently collected. However, the whistleblowers, including Dr. Ndu, became targets of retaliation from certain doctors who saw their actions as an affront.
In response, these doctors petitioned the Ministry of Health to reverse the nurses’ promotions, falsely alleging that they had attended school without authorization. In Dr. Ndu’s case, they further claimed he was not properly employed and lacked the necessary qualifications.
Determined to clear his name, Dr. Ndu took legal action against the defamatory claims. After a protracted trial spanning over four years, Justice Egumgbe ruled on December 10, 2021, that the allegations contained in a petition dated July 10, 2017, referenced as NMA/FNPHE/0004, were false, malicious, and defamatory. The court held that the petition, addressed to the Minister of State for Health and signed by the defendants, had subjected Dr. Ndu to public ridicule.
The court subsequently ordered the defendants to retract the defamatory statements and publish an unreserved apology in a reputable national newspaper within 30 days. Additionally, the court issued a perpetual injunction restraining them and their agents from further defaming Dr. Ndu. It also imposed ₦2.5 million in general damages against the defendants.
Unhappy with the ruling, the doctors appealed, arguing that their petition to the Ministry of Health was privileged information. Their appeal questioned whether the trial court was correct in ruling that their allegations against Dr. Ndu were false, malicious, and defamatory.
However, a three-member panel of the appellate court, led by Justice Zainab Bage Abubakar, dismissed the appeal for lacking merit. The panel ruled that the appellants failed to substantiate their claims.
Justice Abubakar’s ruling was unanimously supported by Justices Joseph Eyo Ekanem and Zainab Bage Abubakar, affirming the lower court’s decision.
With this latest ruling, Dr. Ndu, who has endured relentless persecution from the hospital management since 2017, may finally see relief as the court enforces its judgment.
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