By Aderogba George
Abuja – Absence of a defense counsel, Mr Dominic Anyiador on Monday stalled the trial of Martins-Ugwu Okpeh in the FCT Magistrates’ Court, Mpape, for alleged defamation of character and falsehood.
The prosecution counsel, Mr Victor Nwadike, informed the court that Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi, the Head, Nigeria Centre for Disease and Control is the complainant in the matter.
Nwadike said that the matter was reported to the Inspector General of Police, through a written petition from Nasidi.
Nwadike alleged that the defendant had between January 2016 and February 2017 published an article in his Facebook and WhatsApp accounts accusing the complainant of being “a thief and a looter’’.
The prosecutor alleged that the defendant further published that Nasidi embezzled funds earmarked to fight the outbreak of Ebola virus and other diseases by the Federal Ministry of Health.
He said that the defendant maliciously published the articles with the intention to damage the reputation of the complainant.
According to the prosecutor, the offences contravene the provisions of sections 392 and section 393 of the Penal Code.
However, the defendant denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to the charge when the matter was mentioned.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the same defendant, Okpeh was arraigned in the Federal High Court, Abuja, in 2016 for posing as a medical doctor with the Federal Ministry of Health for nine years.
At the resumed hearing on the matter, the defendant told the court that his counsel was attending to a case in another court.
The defendant informed the court that his counsel sent him a message to pray the court for a stand down till 2 p.m., or an adjournment till May 16 or May 17.
Meanwhile, the prosecution counsel, Nwadike opposed the adjournment of the case till May, saying the suggested dates were not convenient for him.
However, Chief Magistrate Azubike Ukeagwu, adjourned till April 25, for definite hearing to enable the prosecution open its case.
Ukeagwu also ruled that the defendant’s bail would continue.