FRIN Staff Member Jailed for Defaming Ex-DG with False Embezzlement Claim

An employee of the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN) in Ibadan, Taiwo Abraham, has been sentenced to two months’ imprisonment for defaming the institute’s former Director-General, Prof. Olushola Adepoju.

Abraham was arraigned by the police before an Iwo Road Magistrates’ Court on a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy, breach of public peace and publication of defamatory material against Adepoju.

Prosecutor Aminat Muhammad-Akinola told the court that Abraham and others still at large worked with Sahara Reporters to publish an article alleging that Adepoju diverted staff salary deductions into his personal account.

She said the publication, made on June 29, 2021, was intended to damage Adepoju’s reputation and create unrest within the institute. The offences, she added, contravened Sections 517, 375 and 249(d) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Oyo State, 2000.

Delivering judgment, Senior Magistrate T. B. Oyekanmi held that the prosecution proved its case and found Abraham guilty on all counts.

The court sentenced him to two months’ imprisonment for each of the offences or, in the alternative, two weeks of community service. The sentences are to run concurrently.

Oyekanmi noted that Abraham failed to substantiate the allegation of embezzlement and had damaged the former Director-General’s reputation.

The court also ordered Abraham to publish a public apology to Adepoju on Sahara Reporters and submit proof of the publication to the court by Monday.