By Kayode Adeoti
The Kwara State government withdrawn the case of criminal defamation against the Akogun brothers, Dare a Senior Editor with Sobi FM, and Abdulrasheed Publisher of FreshinsightnewsTv at the resumed hearing at an Ilorin magistrate court today.
Sobi FM’s Judiciary Correspondent reports that, during the proceedings, the government prosecutor, Busari Olorundare, applied for the withdrawal of the case dated 14th October 2022 stating no reason for his action.
Magistrate Bio Salihu who presided over the matter acceded to the request, withdrawing all the charges against the defendants and brought the case to a closure.
It was earlier reported that the brothers were charged to court by the police through the petition letter written by the Chief Press Secretary of the state, Mallam Rafiu Ajakaye, accusing them of defamation, and inciting the public against the Government.
Ajakaye had accused Abdulrasheed of posting a comment on a popular WhatsApp platform, the “Kwara Commission” , accusing the State government of being most corrupt, and of facilitating the sum of fifteen million Naira (₦15 million) to be spent, to prosecute the last election of the Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ), Kwara State chapter.
The court could not sit on the last adjourned date of November 23, 2022, because the judiciary in the state was then, mourning the unfortunate deaths of two prominent members of the bar and the bench, the late VC of KWASU, professor Mohammed Akanbi, SAN, and late Honourable Justice Titi Daibu.
Details about the reason for the withdrawal are still very sketchy, as at the time of filing this report.
However the withdrawal of the case may not be unconnected with the various interventions by some well- meaning organisations and individuals, especially the Omo Ibile Igbomina and the Kwara State Chapter of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).
The NIPR, in particular, did a fantastic job in brokering a sustainable truce between the parties to the case.
