Anambra State governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Andy Uba, has threatened lawsuit against Heritage Bank over trending video of protesting workers of the bank at the entrance of his residence.
About three days ago, some staff of the bank, while on a loan recovery drive, protested at the gate of the senator, asking him to repay his loan.
The protest by the bank staff trended and went viral on the social media.
In a letter dated June 23, 2021 and signed by his lawyer, Mr. Ahmed Raji, SAN, Senator Uba said the actions of the bank staff have exposed him to ridicule, shame and embarrassment.
He asked the bank to tender unreserved apology in five national dailies and N5 billion damages.
Part of the letter reads, ”Our client’s attention has been drawn to a video currently being shared on WhatsApp, showing not less than 25 [twenty-five] staff of the Abuja branch of Heritage Bank Plc., wearing customized Heritage Bank Plc., T-shirts; carrying placards and signages with defamatory inscriptions written on them, at the front gate of the residential premises of our client, in Asokoro Abuja. The said video which we have seen, had a voice over by one of your bank’s staff with the following narration:
””Good morning ladies and gentlemen, today is Monday the 21 st day of June 2001, and we have here the staff of Heritage Bank Plc., Abuja. We are in front of Senator Andy Uba’s house in Abuja. Senator Andy Uba has been owing the bank for a couple of years now and we are here for a peaceful meeting with him, very peaceful meeting to ask him to kindly repay those loans because those are depositors fund and those monies, if they are not repaid will throw the number of people you see here with their families out of work and we know the situation of the economy now.
”Despite your veiled denial, the deliberateness of your staffs’ action is founded and the intent, to wit: – bring our client to public opprobrium, shame, ridicule, scorn etc. is glaring for all to see.
”This is more so, as you deliberately picked the rather inauspicious period immediately preceding the forthcoming gubernatorial primary election of the All Progressives Congress [APC] for Anambra State slated for the 26th of June 2021, wherein our client is the leading candidate to clinch his Party’s ticket, to stage this smear campaign against him.
”Surely, the damage occasioned to our client by your calculated but ill-advised action is unquantifiable. However, our client will be assuaged if a public apology, unreserved, is tendered by you and published in at least 5 [five] national daily newspapers within a day of receipt of this letter and payment [Five Billion Naira] in damages.
”If not, we have our client’s further instructions to seek redress against you in a court of law for the same. Kindly be advised.
”We do hope that you will take benefit of the olive branch offered in this letter; the gamble, otherwise, is yours to suffer”, he said.
