The Federal High Court in Ibadan on Wednesday, March 1, 2017
has awarded N530,000 to one Oluwole Aluko for unauthorised deduction from his lines
by MTN Nigeria.
Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel who passed the judgement,
held that MTN had found itself guilty by not challenging the suit.
In his Judgement, he stated: “The plaintiff has the right to allow or reject the use of a caller
tune. MTN cannot force the use of any caller tune on him or anybody because it
is unlawful.
“Though the plaintiff
sought N10 million as damages, but I hold that any damage suffered must be
commensurate with the claim.
“I, hereby, award a
cost of N500,000 for the damages suffered and another N30,000 as cost incurred
during the court process.”
The complainant, who is also stand in as counsel for himself
in the case, had in 2016 filed a N10 million suit against the same telecom
giant.
He claimed that MTN Nigeria had unlawfully made series of
deductions from three of his MTN lines for caller tunes which he did not
subscribe to.
However, in another twist, Mr Fatiullah Tiamiyu who the
defence counsel has claimed that MTN is not aware of any court process.
He said: “That is the
reason the company has not been represented in any previous sitting.”
