for publishing a defamatory article against an agricultural company, Hillcrest Agro-Allied Industries Limited.
In a copy of the judgement seen by PREMIUM TIMES, the Senior Magistrate, A.S Muhammad, said “the defendants had common intention in publishing” the damaging article “and must have intended the natural consequences.” The magistrate clarified that “each of the convicts is to pay a fine of N100,000 only for the offences of conspiracy and defamation respectively, having been convicted.”In the offending publication, Mr Olufemi claimed that Hillcrest factory, a rice milling company, was “permitting its workers to smoke Indian hemp and tobacco on duty.”
It was the loss of the loan facility from the Aras Group that triggered the defamation suit against the convicts. At the close of the prosecution’s case, on 5 April 2022, the defendants filed a no-case submission, urging the court to dismiss the case against them on the grounds that the prosecution failed to lead any incriminating evidence against them.
They had submitted two issues in their final written address before the court. The two issues were whether the prosecution had proved the offences as charged against the defendants and whether the defendants were not covered by the defence of justification and privilege.