National Telescope national telescope newspaper
By Taiwo Niyi, KWARA |
A Magistrate Court sitting in ilorin, the Kwara State Capital, has granted the State Correspondent of Vanguard Newspaper, Mr Demola Akinyemi, bail over a defamation charges.
Akinyemi was dragged to court by a trader in Oja-tuntun market, Alhaja Maria Arolahun, for alleged criminal conspiracy, defamation and falsehood.
The accusations stemmed from an article titled “Kwara market women threaten to protest naked over a colleague’s mysterious death,” published on January 30th, 2024.
This article relates to an altercation between Arolahun and another trader, Medinat, leading to Medinat’s subsequent death. Despite opposition from the prosecution, the court, led by Magistrate Balkis Baraje, granted Akinyemi bail, citing the minor nature of the alleged offenses.
Akinyemi’s counsel argued for bail, emphasizing the presumption of innocence until proven guilty and the avoidance of pre-trial punishment.
The court set bail at N500,000 with two sureties, one of whom must be a close relative to Akinyemi, and scheduled the next hearing for May 20th.
