Kwara: Court Refuses To Grant Application Seeking To Remand Journalist In Defamation Lawsuit

The Magistrates’ Court, Ilorin on Wednesday granted bail to Kwara  state Correspondent of the  Vanguard Newspaper, Mr. Demola Akinyemi , who was arraigned on defamation charges.

Team@orientactualmags.com  learned that an Ilorin- based trader , Alhaja Mariam Babatunde Arolahun , had instituted a defamation lawsuit against  Mr Ademola Akinyemi through  a direct criminal complaint and she had alleged  criminal conspiracy, defamation and falsehood.

Arolahun ,a trader at the popular Oja -Tutun market, Ilorin had  cited  the story published by the Vanguard Newspaper online  on January 30, 2024, titled ‘Kwara market women threatens to protest naked over colleague’s mysterious death’.

Recall that the nominal complainant had allegedly had an altercation with a co- trader  at the market in question, Mrs. Medinat before her death, and this had given birth to insinuations.

 They had reportedly quarreled over ownership of the shops allocated to them by Ilorin West local government. 

 After the story was published by the Vanguard newspaper, Alhaja Mariam Babatunde Arolahun  had made a direct criminal complaint   and the police had  on Tuesday invited Mr Akinyemi  for questioning while he later had charges preferred against him  on Wednesday .

During the court session presided over by Magistrate Balkis Baraje, on Wednesday,  the prosecutor , who was represented by Corporal Abdulraheem Musa, urged the court not to grant the defendant bail saying the police have not concluded investigation and the defendant might jump bail.

He  however added that should the court take a decision to grant him bail, it should  come with stringent  conditions.

Counsels  for the defendant, A. C Okafor and H .A Musa  however argued that what his client had allegedly done  is a bailable offence  while assuring the court that he (the defendant) will not jump bail. 

Okafor said ‘bail is at the discretion of the court and should be used judiciously’.

He added that  the police First Information Report (FIR ) which had resulted in the arraignment of the journalist ‘is a mere information and the defendant is innocent until proven otherwise by the court’. 

He urged the court to grant Akinyemi bail in a liberal manner.

Okafor said ‘refusal  to grant the defendant bail will amount to pre-trial punishment which the law abhors’ .

After listening to the submissions of both  the prosecution and the defendant’s counsels, the magistrate set Akinyemi’s bail at  N500,000 with two sureties in like sum, one of which must be  his close relative. 

He later adjourned the case until May 20 for commencement of hearing-Team@orientactualmags.com  Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com.  Thank you