KADUNA GOVERNMENT DRAGS BISHOP TO COURT OVER ALLEGED DEFAMATORY REMARKS

 Abiodun Ogunyemi, the Anglican bishop of Zaria diocese has been arraigned before a chief magistrate’s court in Kaduna over alleged “defamatory remarks” he made against Governor Nasir el-Rufai.

 

The Bishop who was arraigned on charges bordering on criminal defamation, injurious falsehood and criminal intimidation, had criticised the governor over the planned demolition of 110-year-old St George Cathedral in Zaria.

 

In a statement released in November 2019, Ogunyemi said ,“The whole of the Sabongari Market is our land acquired in the early 1900s with genuine C of O which we have submitted to the state government for recertification. Any attempt by el-Rufai to demolish any of our properties in that market will be a direct assault on the church in the whole of Nigeria.

“The governor should know that he will never be President of Nigeria. I speak prophetically as a servant of the living God,” the bishop said.
 

However upon being arraigned on, the Biship pleaded not guilty and was granted bail. A member of the Kaduna Synod and a canon of the cathedral church of St Michael Kaduna stood in as surety.

 

The director of public prosecutions hinted that a peaceful resolution of the case is ongoing and the defence counsel also agreed to this.

 

The magistrate subsequently adjourned the case to October 28, 2020 for continuation.