Skip to main content

Edo Lawyer to sue UNIBEN over alleged witch-hunting


An Edo based legal practitioner; Olayiwola Afolabi Esq. has ordered the authorities of the University Of Benin under the Leadership of Prof. Faraday Osasere Orumwense as the Vice Chancellor of Uniben, in 30 days recall one Mr Maxwell Oshodin an Assistant Registrar of the University who is on interdiction over an alleged Defamation of Character case.

Olayiwola who described the “Interdiction” on the UNIBEN staff as frivolous and baseless accused the institution of conniving with some powerful persons to witch-hunt and frustrate Oshodin’s ambition to run for the position of Secretary General of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SSANU) election which will be held soon.

He said the basis on which the interdiction was served was not in clear terms of what was stipulated in Chapter XII, section 4 (A-O) of the Regulations Governing the Service of Senior Staff noting that Mr Oshodin committed no serious offence as stated.

While stating that Defamation of Character is not a criminal offence, he stressed that his client has not been pronounced guilty of the presumed offence adding that such action was taken without fair hearing.

According to him, “The letter under reference with the caption, “INTERDICTION” is a calculated attempt to frustrate our client’s ambition to contest the position of Secretary General of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SSANU) election to be held soon

“That the ground for his interdiction is frivolous and baseless having not committed any serious Misconduct as clearly spelt in Chapter XII, section 4 (A-O) of the Regulations Governing the Service of Senior Staff, University of Benin, Benin City neither has he been convicted of any criminal charge by a competent court. Specifically and strictly speaking, our client has no case with the University or any staff pending whatsoe “That from all intents and all purpose, there is an unholy alliance and a gang-up amongst the power that be to witch-hunt and eliminate our client completely from service and to thwart or frustrate his ambition to contest the SSANU election as can be gleaned from the content of the letter under reference. He continued, “Firstly, defamation of Character of any sort is not a criminal offence. Any person who feels defamed can only take out to civil suit against the defamer.

“Secondly, that there was a letter allegedly written from the office of State Intelligence and Investigation Bureau of the Nigeria Police, State Headquarters, Benin City addressed to the office of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin alleging an offence of conspiracy and defamation of character against our client do not suffice to criminalize the alleged offence.

 “And thirdly, our client has not been pronounced guilty (as alluded to from the letter under reference) of any crime including the one he is being persecuted for resulting in his interdiction without even hearing from him as a matter of fair-hearing.

“It is against the foregoing that we write on the instruction of our client to demand that our client be recall to work within thirty (30) days. Should you fail, refuse or neglect to heed to our demand, we shall not hesitate to ventilate our client’s grievances in a competent court in order to seek redress against this injustice and witch-hunting of our client”. He stated.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Omagbemi frees Angels, Queens for Fed Cup final

Super Falcons’ Head Coach, Florence Omagbemi, has elected to release players of Rivers Angels and Bayelsa Queens in the Senior Women National Team camp for Sunday’s potentially explosive women Federation Cup final between both teams in Lagos. Omagbemi The member of FIFA Technical Study said the ladies would be allowed to leave the team’s camp in Abuja to travel to Lagos for the big clash, which starts at 1pm at the Teslim Balogun Stadium on Sunday. That decision has freed Angels’ half dozen of goalkeeper Ibubeleye Whyte, defenders Osinachi Ohale, Ugo Njoku and Gladys Akpa and midfielders Chioma Wogu and Glory Iroka to be part of the glamour event, to be attended by the Governors of Lagos, Anambra, Nasarawa, Bayelsa and Rivers States. Bayelsa Queens’ duo of goalkeeper Alaba Jonathan and playmaker Osarenoma Igbinovia will also be on duty. The involvement of the Super Falcons’ stars will certainly boost the quality of the final match, and ensure the two teams do not miss their Falco...
Post a Comment
Read more

Supreme Court doesn’t need 21 justices – CJN

The acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, has said appointing more judges or increasing the number of courtrooms are not the solutions to the problem of delayed justice dispensation in the country. The acting CJN said the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court would  remain congested so long as the number of appeals proceeding there from the high courts was not regulated. Justice Onnoghen also argued that it was erroneous to believe that delay at the Supreme Court was as a result of not having up to 21 Justices prescribed by the constitution. He noted hat even the United States of America, with a higher population, had only nine Supreme Court Justices. He argued that the current 17 Justices on the Supreme Court bench were just enough for the country, if the number of appeals proceeding to the appellate and apex courts was regulated. Justice Onnoghen made this argument on Monday in Lagos while inaugurating the newly refurbished building of the Lagos Division o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Trump ex-aide Paul Manafort 'offered to help Putin'

US President Donald Trump's one-time campaign chairman secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to assist President Vladimir Putin, the Associated Press (AP) news agency reports. Paul Manafort is said to have proposed a strategy to nullify anti-Russian opposition across former Soviet republics a decade ago. AP says documents and interviews support its claims about Mr Manafort. Mr Manafort has insisted that he never worked for Russian interests. He worked as Mr Trump's unpaid campaign chairman from March until August last year, including the period during which the flamboyant New York billionaire clinched the Republican nomination. He resigned after AP revealed that he had co-ordinated a secret Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine's ruling pro-Russian political party until 2014. Newly obtained business records link Mr Manafort more directly to Mr Putin's interests in the region, AP says. Donald Trump unpaid Campaign Chairman It ...
Post a Comment
Read more