JUDICIARY
Edo Set to Abolish Law of Sedition, Criminal Defamation
Edo has started the process of abolishing the law of sedition and criminal defamation to engender freedom of speech and media practice in line with the laws of the land.
Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Mr Andrew Emwanta, said this in Benin on Thursday in a keynote address at the maiden edition of the Radio Nigeria, Bronze FM Benin inaugural lecture and award.
He spoke as representative of Gov.
Godwin Obaseki on: “Deepening democracy: Role of the Media’’, the theme of the edition.Emwanta said that the bill to that effect had been sent to the House of Assembly.
“Last Wednesday, the Edo State Executive Council considered and approved five executive bills for onward transmission to the Assembly for legislative action.
One of the bills is the Edo State Criminal Law 2022 Bill.“Under the proposed law, the provisions on Sedition and Criminal Defamation were taken out in line with decisions of appellate courts, which align with Constitutional provisions on the right to freedom of expression and the press,’’ he said.
Similarly, Mr Chris Isiguzo, the Chairman of the event and the National President of the NUJ, charged the media to help Nigerians to choose the right candidates for the 2023 general elections.
“Without the media, there is no democracy. We normally say the judiciary is the last hope of the common man, but the current reality is that the media is the last hope of the common man.
“The media must be alive to its role as we move forward to 2023 election.
“Virtually every state today has a presidential aspirant but the media must bring these characters to the people and help them to decide the right people,’’ he said.
In her remarks, the National President of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, Ladi Bala, expressed regret at the non-passage of women-related issues at the on-going Constitution review by the National Assembly.
Bala stated this while contributing to the lead paper which was delivered by Mrs Yemi Kolapo, publisher of the Points Newspaper.
In her address of welcome, General Manager of Radio Nigeria, Bronze FM, Mrs Abimbola Oyetunde, said the lecture series was instituted to impact more on the station’s immediate environment and on the larger society. (NAN)
JUDICIARY
Court Remands Landlord for Alleged Defilement of Tenant’s Daughter
A family court sitting at Iyaganku, Ibadan, on Tuesday ordered the remand of one Musibau Lamidi, 50, for alleged defilement of his tenant’s six-year-old daughter.
The Magistrate, Mrs S. A . Adesina, ordered that the landlord should be kept at the Agodi custodial facility pending advice from Oyo State Director of Public Prosecutions.
Adesina did not take the landlord’s plea.
She adjourned the case until April 25 for mention.
Reports says that Musibau, a resident of Olode, Ibadan, was charged on one-count of defilement.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp Gbemisola Adedeji, told the court that the defendant, on March 13, between 8. 00 a.
m. and 4.00 p.m. defiled his tenant’s daughter.Adedeji said that Musibau had an issue with the child’s mother and asked her to pack out.
The prosecutor said that when the woman went to look for a house to rent, the defendant defiled her daughter.
She said that the offence contravened Section 34 of the Oyo State Child Right’s
Law of 2006. (NAN)
JUDICIARY
4 Friends Docked for Allegedly Threatening Cleric’s Life
Four friends were on Monday docked in a Grade ‘A’ Customary Court in Ibadan for allegedly threatening the life of pastor Charles Gold.
The police charged Olatunji Musibau, 44;Abiodun Folarin, 50; Kazeem Oluremi, 60 and Yusuf Sodiq, 23, with conspiracy and conduct likely to cause breach of peace.
The Prosecution Counsel, Mr Philip Amusan, told the court that the defendants allegedly committed the offence on March 8, at about 2 p.
m., at New Bodija Area in Ibadan.Amusan alleged that the defendants and others at large, threatened violence against pastor Gold, of Echo Evangelical Ministry Ibadan.
He said the offence contravened the probisions of sections 516 and 383 of the Criminal Laws of Oyo State, 2000.
The defendants however pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The Court President, Mrs Moji Aworemi, admitted the defendants to bail in the sum of N150, 000 each and one surety each in like sum.
Aworemi held that the surety must be a blood relation to the defendants.
She adjourned the case until April 29, for mention. (NAN)
JUDICIARY
2 Teenagers in Court for Allegedly Stealing Sewing Machine
Two teenagers, Simor Aaron, 19, and Francis David, 18, were arraigned on Wednesday before a Kaduna Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly stealing a sewing machine and other items worth N325,000.
The defendants, both residents of High-Cost Narayi, Kaduna, are standing trial on a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing, to which they pleaded not guilty.
The Prosecutor, Insp Chidi Leo, told the court that the defendants committed the offences on March 11, at Barnawa Kaduna.
According to Leo, the duo burgled a tailoring shop of one Gladys Peter and stole her sewing machine, six wrappers, and four clothing materials all valued at N325,000.
The prosecutor stated that the defendants were caught and handed over to the police by members of the vigilante group on patrol in the area.
Leo said that the offences contravened Sections 281 and 217 of the Penal Code of Kaduna State, 2017, which stipulates a three-year jail term for stealing and two years imprisonment for conspiracy.
The Magistrate, Ibrahim Emmanuel, granted the defendants bail in the sum of N100,000 each with two sureties each in like sum, who must be gainfully employed.
Emmanuel adjourned the case until April 22, for hearing. (NAN)