A former bank manager and businessman, Mr Olufemi Olushakin, reportedly named by the Police in armed robbery charges, has faulted the report, describing it as “contrived in mendacity, falsehood, mischief and perfidy.”
Olushakin said that the report was concocted to defame him, deceive the public, and set the public against him.
His riposte was contained in a generic letter addressed to a number of media houses, including THE CONCLAVE, which published a story entitled: “Police Name Former Bank Manager In Armed Robbery Charges,” on December 26, 2024.
THE CONCLAVE reports that all media houses that published the story placed reliance on Premium Times from where they culled the story and credited the source in accordance.
In the letter, dated December 30, 2024, by his lawyers, Oluwadamilare Awokoya & Co, signed by Barrister O.S. Mohammed, he culled an excerpt, which constituted the gravamen of his complaint.
Read the excerpt of the said report: “The police have named a former bank manager and businessman, Olufemi Olushakin, in an armed robbery case brought before a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Ibadan, Oyo State….
“On Thursday (19 December), the police arraigned Mr. Akanni and Mr. Adewale before a chief magistrate in Ibadan, Giwa Babalola, who subsequently ordered them to be remanded at the Agodi Correctional Centre in Ibadan. They pleaded not guilty….”
Mr Olushakin’s lawyers elucidated the circumstances that led to the reported court case in which their client (Olushakin) was wrongly profiled and typified.
According to them, “Dr Henry Akinduro of Total Grace group Ltd breached the Investment Agreement voluntarily executed between him and our cline t running to the sum of N700,000,000 (seven Hundred Million Naira. Thee understanding is that in the circumstances, a receiver manager can take over collateral, which is the Global Signature Hotel situate, lying and being at Kilometre 7, Cele Bus Stop, beside Enyo Filling Station, Old Ife Road, Ibadan, Egbeda Local Government Area, Oyo State of Nigeria and which was alleged to be robbed by our client, for the purpose of realizing the outstanding obligation without recourse to Court.
“Our client informed us that he explored his options in the Agreement upon which the hotel was handed over to a receiver manager by Akinola Dare, who was acting for and on behalf of Dr Henry Akinduro. Our client is a responsible man and a reputable businessman in Nigeria and abroad. Our client has complete fidelity to the law of the land and he does not engage in commission of crime.
“Going back to your report, it is apparent that the report is jaundiced and it is bereft of any atom of investigative journalism. It is also clear that the mistruth in the said publication, which established the mischief, evinced that neither your company nor any member of your staff was present at Magistrate Court 1, Ibadan Magisterial District, Iyaganku, Ibadan when the proceedings took place.
“It was apparent that your misconception of facts was ostensibly clear. Mr. Ayomide Akanbi, Mr. David Adewole and our client were not arraigned in the Court if it is to go by what arraignment means under the law. They were only brought to court on holding charge, which has been rendered unconstitutional, in order for them to be remanded in the correctional facility.
“Your company’s mischief was also crystallized when you stated in your report that ‘the Chief magistrate, Mrs. Giwa Babalola, ordered that the suspects should be remanded at the Agodi Correctional Centre in Ibadan.’ For your information, the proceeding of the day was not conducted by His Worship, Mrs. Giwa Babalola, but by His Worship, Mrs. O.O. Ogunkanmi (Chief Magistrate 1), Your publication constitutes malicious falsehood calculated to ridicule our client.
“Your media report with respect to above caption released to the public on the 26th day of December, 2024 is, beyond doubt, defamatory and has caused our client so much damage. There is no way you can keep up, in this instance, in an intellectual joust in defence of the indefensible. The indiscretion with which the defamatory publication was authored is irredeemable.
“In the light of the foregoing, we demand for (sic) an immediate and unequivocal retraction of the defamatory statements made by you against our client and immediately cause an unreserved apology to our client published in your news outlet and two other national dailies and immediate payment of N1,000,000,000 (one billion naira) to our client for the damage caused to him within the next twenty-four (24) hours of the receipt of this correspondence.
“Take notice that failure to accede to the instant request of our client herein, and within the twenty-four (24) next the receipt of this correspondence, we would be left with no option but to utilize every other necessary legal means available to our client.
“Take further notice that we are also taking legal action against some other news outlets that have toed the same path as yours.
“Regards.
Yours faithfully,
For: Oluwadamilare Awokoya & Co.
O.S. Mohammed, Esq.
OUR APOLOGY
Whereas THE CONCLAVE culled the story from PREMIUM TIMES and credited the source in accordance; and whereas, we have taken note of the claims and explanations by counsel to Mr Olufemi Olushakin, we avow that our publication of the story as culled from PREMIUM TIMES was done sans malice.
We further avow that THE CONCLAVE was motivated to publish the story in the strong belief that the Police had concluded their investigations and filed the appropriate charges before the Magistrate’s Court.
We believed that we published the story in the public interest until disputation by the counsel to Mr Olufemi Olushakin.
Assuming that our amplification and/or further escalation of the story was a mischief that escaped, to prove good faith and that there was no malice behind the amplification/escalation, we immediately removed the story from THE CONCLAVE website on December 30, 2024, the same day the Mr Olushakin’s letter was received- another proof that there was no malice behind the publication/amplification/escalation of the story complained about.
Finally, we hereby apologise for the publication/ amplification /escalation of the story.
Management
THE CONCLAVE
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