Sahara Reporters’ CEO tells US Court Onyeama, Aduda created reports against Ambassador Onoh
The Chairwoman and CEO of Sahara Reporters, Lakeisha Landrum Pierre, informed the U.S. Federal Court in the Northern District of Texas that former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama and former Permanent Secretary, Gabriel Aduda created the reports against Ambassador Lilian Onoh that Sahara Reporters published, which then became the subject of a defamation case filed against them by Ambassador Onoh.
Landrum-Pierre’s claims echo the statement of Omoyele Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters, who had also told the Court that Onyeama created the report against Ambassador Onoh, gave it to him and he then published it.
Onoh had exposed alleged corruption within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Onoh alleged that Sahara Reporters and its officials were fully sponsored to carry out the retaliatory smear campaign. Landrum-Pierre and Sowore have confirmed that at the very least, they both knew that Onyeama and Aduda authored the negative reports against Onoh and personally handed it to them for publication, making them complicit at the very least.
Their testimony also supports the Magnistsky complaint Onoh lodged against them with the U.S. State Department, which could potentially lead to a travel ban on Onyeama, Aduda and other officials mentioned; and could equally lead to Sowore’s Green Card being revoked and Landrum Pierre facing various charges.
Both Onyeama and Aduda served under late Muhammadu Buhari and Onoh had repeatedly accused them of turning the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its overseas Missions into an industrial scale global money laundering machine.
Court documents filed by Onoh included testimony about the millions of US Dollars stolen from Red Cross funds for Haiti earthquake victims and from funds meant for Nigeria’s diplomatic missions; as well as billions of Naira that disappeared from the Ministry under the guise of travel during the 2020 Covid-19 global lockdown among other egregious actions. She also reported on a visa racketeering scam against the USA and other countries by a Nigerian Ambassador, Janet Olisa.
The Federal Court in Texas declined jurisdiction over the case due to the fact that it could not establish that Sahara Reporters and Lakeisha Landrum Pierre had enough “meaningful contact” with the State of Texas. It also did not address the substance of the case, meaning that Onoh can now take it to New York where Sahara Reporters is registered.
Speaking to reporters following the Court decision, Ambassador Onoh said she would pursue the $21 million defamation case in New York, where neither Sahara Reporters nor Lakeisha Landrum Pierre would be able to rely on technicalities to escape responsibility for their part in a clear smear campaign which they have already admitted was done in collusion with Onyeama and Aduda, without any due diligence or verification on their part.
Onoh said it was proof of abuse of power by Onyeama and Aduda and of the runaway corruption that was rampant during the Buhari era; as well as a clear example of the extent that corrupt government officials would go to destroy anybody exposing their corrupt activities.
According to Onoh, her experience at the hands of Onyeama, Aduda and Sahara Reporters was an example of what other whistleblowers and those fighting against corruption go through in Nigeria. She said that the high-profile smear campaign against her by Onyeama and other high ranking members of the Buhari administration was intended to be a chilling warning to others who might have wanted to speak up about the monumental corruption and industrial scale international money laundering operation that Onyeama and his cohorts allegedly executed through the country’s 109 diplomatic missions.
She cited the recent report from the Anambra State Truth Justice and Peace Commission on the brutal murder of former NBA chairman Barnabas Igwe and his pregnant wife, Amaka Igwe which had all the hallmarks of a state-sponsored assassination, as the fate that can equally befall others trying to fight corruption in Nigeria; and one which she escaped by leaving Nigeria.
In previous court documents, she had described Sahara Reporters as a scam and a Fiction Factory, contrary to its claim that it is a corruption busting website, asserting that they simply invent stories to deceive American donors from whom they have received over $5 million. The viral fake story of the death of former Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano in September 2025 on Sahara Reporters was referenced in court documents.
Furthermore, Onoh described the “activist” reputation of its publisher, Sowore, as fake and even compared him to convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, in court documents. The documents included news reports alleging that Sowore had sexually molested a fellow student during his student days at UNILAG. Onoh stated that Sowore was part and parcel of the corrupt establishment destroying Nigeria, and that Sahara Reporters was essentially used for blackmail or sponsored attacks.
The substance of the multi-million dollar defamation case is now expected to be heard in New York.
