A magistrate’s court in Ilorin, Kwara State, North-central Nigeria, on Monday, struck out a defamation case brought against two journalists from a Kwara State-based online newspaper, Informant247.
The Nigerian police charged Salihu Ayatullahi and Adisa-Jaji Azeez with crrvminal defamation of the Rector of the Kwara State Polytechnic, Abdul-Jimoh Muhammed.
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The charges followed an investigative story authored by the journalists, exposing alleged bogus claims the rector made about the financial status of the school and shoddily-executed projects within the institution.
Ruling on an application by the defence on Thursday, the magistrate, Adebayo Qudus, struck out the case for abuse of court process and lack of diligent prosecution.
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Mr Ayatullahi, the editor-in-chief of the outlet, and Mr Azeez, who heads its fact-checking desk, were arrested and detained following the complaint by the rector.
The police subsequently charged them before the magistrate’s court on 6 February 2024 with two counts of criminal conspiracy and defamation.
On the following day, 7 February, the police arraigned them, when the defendants pleaded not guilty.
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However, the prosecution failed to present any evidence to support the case.
Jimoh-AbdulKadir Edun, the defence lawyer, told PREMIUM TIMES that he filed a notice of preliminary objection on 3 December against the first information report for abuse of court process and moved the application.
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“I moved the application before the court and the ruling in respect of the said notice of preliminary objection was fixed for today and hence our prayer for strike out of the charge and discharge of the two defendants were granted today.
“As expected, the prosecution counsel could not canvas any argument to counter our application, hence the same was granted today,” he said.
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