Judgement against pointblanknews.com false story

On June 23, 2020, the publisher of the faceless online portal, pointblanknews.com published a false article with the caption:

“HOW SAHARA ENERGY, AA RANO OIL SOLD STOLEN $2.5 BILLION CRUDE OIL IN CHINA, SHARED PROCEEDS WITH BUHARI’S CABAL

The above was equally published on the site’s twitter handle. Please see links below:

How Sahara Energy, AA Rano Oil Sold Stolen $2.5billion Crude Oil in China, Shared proceeds With Buhari’s cabal – Pointblank News

Jackson Ude on Twitter: “Sahara Energy & AA Rano Oil were used by late Abba Kyari to illegally sell 48million barrels of Bonny Light crude worth $2.5billion, stolen from Nigeria and stored in tank farms in China in 2016. The money ended in private pockets, according to,documents, obtained. Details coming” / Twitter

Sahara Group published rebuttals to the allegations and also engaged external counsel to institute separate legal suits in Lagos and Abuja against the pointblanknews.com and its alter ego, Mr. Jackson Ude in respect of the defamatory article against Sahara, its affiliated companies and Directors.

After judgement was delivered in favour of Sahara at the High Court of Lagos State in 2022, we have also obtained judgement at the High Court in Abuja on January 24, 2023.

Please see details of the judgement here

Summary of Judgment:

1. A Declaration that the Defendants’ article, which was published on 23^rd July, 2020 via his website/twitter handle and captioned: “HOW SAHARA ENERGY, AA RANO OIL SOLD STOLEN $2.5 BILLION CRUDE OIL IN CHINA, SHARED PROCEEDS WITH BUHARI’S CABAL”, is defamatory, injurious and disparaging to the reputation and corporate image of Sahara and has brought ridicule and aspersion on Sahara.
2. A Declaration that the aforementioned statements are unjustified, baseless and unfounded allegations aimed at portraying Sahara in a bad light.
3. A Declaration that the corporate image and reputation of Sahara has been injured and that Sahara has suffered damage to its reputation as a corporate and business entity before its employees, business partners and the general public.
4. An Order of Perpetual Injunction restraining the Defendants from publishing any defamatory statements against Sahara, its Directors, employees and/or affiliates.
5. An Order Awarding Damages in the total sum of N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira) in favour of Sahara and against the Defendants jointly and severally.

Sahara Group remains committed to protecting its hard-earned reputation as we continue to lead the charge towards bringing energy to life responsibly.