They were arraigned on Tuesday following a petition from a company allegedly owned by the just appointed Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Finance and Economy, Dr. Sarah Alade over a report on hemp smoking published on 19 May, 2018.
According to the report, Hillcrest Agro-Allied Industry, one of the groups of companies allegedly owned by Alade, a former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria , tolerated the smoking of cigarettes, as well as Indian hemp by workers within its vicinity. On Tuesday, the two defendants were charged with Criminal conspiracy and defamation against Sections 97 and 192 of the penal code.