Anti-Igbo Comments: Lawyer Threatens To Sue Primate Ayodele For Defamation

A legal practitioner, Maduabuchi Idam, has threatened to sue a Lagos-based cleric, Primate Elijah Ayodele, for defamation.

Idam, in a letter to Ayodele, dated 18th November, 2025, stated that he was “grievously affected” by comments made by the promoter of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, on 16th November, 2025.

In a now viral video, shared on social media, the Prophet was seen and heard saying,
“Igbos are the problem of Nigeria. They are desperate for power and want to rule Nigeria at all cost. There is a curse on you and if you do not reverse that curse you can’t become president of Nigeria.”

But Idam, in his protest letter, addressed to the Prophet, said the unprovoked “malicious and utterly irresponsible statement” had been widely circulated across social media platforms and published by multiple newspapers.

The letter, a copy of which was made available to NEWSNGR on Wednesday, further stated that Ayodele’s statements had been heard and read by millions of right-thinking Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike.

According to him, the cleric’s remarks are widely understood to be clearly defamatory, injurious, and disparaging to every son and daughter of Igbo extraction, “myself included.”

“While I am the least concerned about your style of trade—which I consider to be pulpit racketeering, issuing predictions under the guise of prophecy—I am, as an Igbo man, directly affected by your latest comment.

“Your statement has impugned my integrity, diminished the way I am perceived by right-thinking members of the public, and effectively sought to confine me and millions of Igbos to a position of res nullius—a people regarded as belonging to no where.

“Furthermore, your comment has subjected me and several other concerned Igbo men and women to mockery, hatred, odium, and scorn, and has profoundly diminished our human dignity as the natural and foreseeable result of such a reckless publication,” Idam added.

The lawyer demanded of the cleric, a retraction of the offensive comments, a formal public apology, or he must provide a satisfactory justification for it.

“In view of the foregoing, you are hereby given 48 hours to comply with my demand for a formal apology.

“Failure to do so will compel me—alongside several other well-meaning Igbos—to, should Ohanaeze Ndigbo fail to act, vigorously initiate legal proceedings against you for defamation.

“Kindly accept the assurance of my esteemed regard.”