THE High Court No. 2 in Bauchi State, presided by K. N Hamidu, has chided Makkah Eye Specialist Hospital for failing to appear in court and awarded the cost of N10,000 each to the defendants, which included WikkiTimes, its publisher Haruna Salisu Mohammed and two of its reporters.
The court ordered Albasar International Foundation, owners of Makkah Eye Specialist Hospital, to pay damages for failing to appear before the court despite several hearing notices served on them.
The case has to do with an investigation by WikkiTimes newspaper that exposed how Makkah Eye Specialist Hospital, Bauchi, a subsidiary of Al-Basar International Foundation, deviated from its founding principles of affordable healthcare and resorted to extorting their clients.
The report, which generated much euphoria, also documented how the hospital consistently dodged tax for many years amid accusations of illegally disengaging staff without due process and maltreatment of patients seeking medical services.
The hospital after that sued WikkiTimes for ‘defamation,’ an accusation the medium denied.
In his ruling on Thursday, Justice Hamidu, following an oral application and argument by S. G Idrees and H. B Ghide, counsel to the defendants, ruled that Makkah Eye Specialist Hospital should pay the cost of N10,000 to the four defendants following its failure to appear before the court with its witnesses despite several hearing notices served on its counsel.
Counsel to WikkiTimes, S. G Idrees, argued that the defendants had borne the cost of hearing notices served on the plaintiff, adding that the defendants suffered untold hardship following non-appearance of Makkah Eye Specialist Hospital.
The ICIR reported how WikkiTimes, an online news platform, received threats following an investigative piece exposing how Makkah Eye Clinic, owned by Saudi Arabia-based Albasar International Foundation, deviated from its creed of affordable healthcare and resorted to charging clients three times the amount quoted in similar private institutions.
The case was adjourned to January 27, 2022, for further hearing.
A reporter with the ICIR
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