The Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ossai, Esq., through his lawyers led by Ikechukwu Onuoma, SAN, of Obra Legal LP, has issued a seven-day ultimatum to SaharaReporters demanding the immediate retraction, public apology, and disclosure of the identity of every individual responsible for a publication titled “Exclusive: Residents of Enugu Deputy Governor’s Community Lament Lack of Clean Water, Forced to Share Polluted Stream with Cattle,” threatening to pursue “all remedies available under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, including proceedings for appropriate declaratory, injunctive, compensatory, aggravated, exemplary, and any other reliefs the Court may deem just” if the demands are not met.
The demand letter, dated July 8, 2026, was addressed to the Editor-in-Chief of SaharaReporters at the publication’s office at No, 46b Adekunle Fajuyi Way Ikeja, Lagos., Ikeja, Lagos
The publication in question, dated July 7, 2026, reported that residents of Urukpa Ezimo Community in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State, described as the hometown of the Deputy Governor, have decried years of government neglect and continued dependence on a single contaminated stream for drinking water despite repeated promises of potable water projects.
SaharaReporters reported that residents of Urukpa Ezimo Community still depend on a single contaminated stream, Iyi Urukpa, which they said has served as the community’s only source of drinking water for generations. The publication stated that the situation has “deteriorated into a public health emergency as both humans and livestock now depend on the same water source.”
Photographic evidence obtained by the publication showed what was described as severe degradation of the water source: the surface of the primary water pool “visibly clouded, dynamic with floating organic debris, and completely discolored by heavy silt runoff,” and residents navigating “a steep, slippery dirt trail thoroughly churned into deep mud by foot traffic and erosion to access a rudimentary concrete containment basin holding a heavily stagnant, brown, and muddy mixture.”
Residents were quoted making several allegations. One stated: “The same water our children drink is the same water where cattle drink and defecate. The stream has become polluted, but we have no alternative because every government promise to provide potable water has ended in disappointment.”
Another resident stated: “They come with fanfare, cameras and promises. They tell us potable water is our right, but after the elections everything disappears and we are left to continue fetching water from the same stream.”
A community leader, who requested anonymity “for fear of victimisation,” alleged that the community suffers beyond the lack of potable water from poor road access, limited employment opportunities, and the absence of meaningful government empowerment programmes. The leader further alleged that “political thugs were deployed during the recent by-election to intimidate residents.”
An elderly resident questioned: “If the hometown of the Deputy Governor cannot get a functional borehole, what hope is there for other rural communities?” The elder alleged that the electricity currently enjoyed by the community “was not a government project but was funded through community self-help efforts” and that “government officials claim the credit.”
Residents also stated that the only borehole in the community, constructed under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Program Phase 1 (ATASP-1), is not accessible to residents. “It is managed by cronies and political family. Always locked unless instruction is provided,” a resident told the publication.
SaharaReporters stated that efforts to obtain the reaction of the Enugu State Government were unsuccessful as of the time of filing the report.
Onuoma SAN stated that while the publication was “ostensibly presented as a report concerning the availability of potable water in Urukpa Ezimo Community, it repeatedly and deliberately so, associates our Client with the allegations contained therein through its headline, structure, and editorial framing.”
“The unmistakable effect is to portray our Client as having neglected his community, abused the privileges of public office, failed in his constitutional responsibilities, or otherwise being complicit in the alleged conditions described in the publication,” the demand letter stated.
“The publication is calculated to convey to the ordinary and reasonable reader that our Client is indifferent to the welfare of his people and has failed to utilize his office to address the developmental needs of his hometown. These insinuations are false, misleading, unfair, and unsupported by any credible factual basis,” Onuoma SAN stated.
The demand letter raised two specific journalistic concerns.
First, the publication “contains numerous serious allegations attributed to anonymous individuals whose identities are undisclosed and whose claims appear to have been published without any verification.” The allegations include assertions relating to “political intimidation, mismanagement of public resources, and the alleged control of public infrastructure by unnamed ‘cronies.’”
Second, “despite the gravity of these allegations and their obvious injurious effect on our client’s reputation, no opportunity was afforded to our Client to respond before publication.”
“The deliberate invocation of our Client’s office throughout the article serves no legitimate journalistic purpose beyond creating sensationalism and inviting public opprobrium against him,” Onuoma SAN stated.
The demand letter stated that the publication has “exposed our client to ridicule, public contempt, reputational injury, and unwarranted hostility both within and outside Nigeria.”
“This has gradually snowballed into our client being harassed or bullied online which has led to reputational damage. Recent political and business engagements have been lost upon reading your publication,” the letter stated.