Ilorin: By Our REPORTER
Published, Sunday, April 16, 2023
KWARA STATE MAGISTRATE’S COURT sitting in Ilorin, the state capital Friday, April 14, 2023, convicts two online journalists for criminal conspiracy and defamation.
Accordingly, the court fined Gidado Shuaib and Olufemi Alfred the sum of N100,000 each or three-month imprisonment.
During their arraignment in November 2019, the police leveled offences of criminal conspiracy and defamation against the duo.
Police added that the offences were contrary to sections 97 and 392 of the penal law of Kwara State.
Their arraignment followed a petition written against them by Hillcrest Agro-Allied Industries Limited located at Kilometre 4, Ajase -Ipo road, Amberi village, Kwara State over a published article in News Digest, with the headline: ‘Inside Kwara Factory where Indian hemp is legalised.’
The petitioner alleged that the said publication portrayed the company which is into rice production as a place where Indian hemp is being smoked freely by workers .
The company told the court that the publication had caused the company and the petitioner huge financial and reputational damages.
The petitioner also told the court that as a result of the article published in June 2018, the company was denied a loan facility of a sum of $10 million by its funding partners based in the United Arab Emirates.
The petitioner gave the name of the partners as Arab Group and equally lost a deposit sum of $250,000.00..
Delivering judgment on the matter after about five years of legal battle, Magistrate A.S Muhammad said: “ I have carefully considered the evidence of PW1 (Shakirat Yusuf) on the character of the convicts as well as considered the allocutus made by learned counsel to the convicts and I have equally reflected on the provisions of sections 316 and 417 of the Kwara state Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2018. In compliance with the provisions under S.417 (2) ( d) of the Kwara state ACJL, 2018, I shall not pass the maximum sentence on the convicts.
“Premised on the forgoing for the offence of conspiracy, I sentence the 1st and 2nd convicts to a fine of N40,000 only each or two months imprisonment in default of payment.
“On defamation, the 1st and 2nd convicts are sentenced to a fine of N60,000.00 only each or 3 months imprisonment in default of payment.
“For clarity, each of the convicts is to pay a fine of N100, 000.00 only for the offences of conspiracy and defamation respectively, having been convicted in default of payment, the sentence shall run concurrently.”
No comments:
Post a Comment