- Safiu Kehinde
A 65-year-old man, Gbenga Odusile, has bagged eight months jail term for lodging false complaint and defaming his brother, Imoleayo Odusile.
The defendant was convicted by the Magistrate Court in Isabo Abeokuta on Thursday,
He was arraigned before the court on a three-count charge bordering on false information and defamation.
The Magistrate, Mr I.O. Ogunfemi, convicted Odusile after finding him guilty of the charges levelled against him.
Ogunfemi sentenced the defendant to three months imprisonment on Counts one and two and two months’ imprisonment on Count three without an option of fine.
He said that the sentences were to run consecutively.
The magistrate also ordered the defendant to pay N200,000 as restitution to the complainant as compensation for defamation of character.
Earlier, the Prosecutor, ASP Adewusi Ojo, had told the court that the defendant committed the offences on August 12, 2024, at 10:44 a.m. at the Kemta Divisional Police Headquarters and later at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Eleweran, Abeokuta.
Ojo said the defendant falsely reported to police officers that one Imoleayo Odusile, who is the defendant’s younger brother, snatched his purse containing over N350,000 and a pair of eyeglasses and ran away.
The prosecutor said the information was false and was made with intent to mislead the police and have the said Imoleayo Odusile arrested and imprisoned.
He added that the defendant’s action also amounted to defamation, as he knowingly made false allegations in a public place to damage the reputation of the complainant.
According to the prosecutor, the offences contravened Sections 125A(1)(a), 249(d) and 373 of the Criminal Code Laws of Ogun 2006.