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Two Journalists were Remanded after being Accused of Slander.
Two journalists were remanded after being accused of slander.
In response to claims of defamation, an Ilorin Magistrate Court sitting in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, yesterday ordered the detention of two journalists at Oke-Kura Correctional Center.
Mr. Akogun Abdulrasidi and Dare Akogun are the two affected journalists.
NewsReport gathered that before their agreement, the Association of Kwara Online Media Practitioners (ASKOMP) members and other journalists had opposed the idea of sending the two journalists to jail without a trial.
The Chief Press Secretary to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye, through a petition to the Commissioner of Police accused them of defamation and inciting the public against the state government.
Ajakaye said Abdulrasheed posted a comment on the popular WhatsApp platform, inaugurated by the Kwara State Government, accusing the government of the day of being most corrupt and of facilitating N15 million to prosecute the last election of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kwara State chapter.
The government prosecutor, Nasir Yusuf, in his submissions, prayed to the court for another date of adjournment pending the determination of police investigation over the matter.
He informed the court of the motion ex parte attached to the police report seeking the remand of the suspects and the 11-paragraph affidavit deposed to which was attached to it.
Magistrate Bio Salihu handling the matter, however, turned down Mr. Kehinde Eleja’s (SAN) appearance for the suspects saying according to Kwara State law, he lacks jurisdiction to hear him being a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
However, in his short ruling, Magistrate Salihu ordered Dare and Abdulrasheed to be remanded in Oke-Kura Correctional Centre.
He, therefore, adjourned the matter to November 19.
