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The Nigeria Police Force has filed a announcement of entreaty challenging the judgement of Honourable Justice Lifu of the Federal High Court, Lagos Division, which discharged and acquitted Bolanle Aseyan connected a four-count complaint bordering connected alleged violative publication, transgression intimidation and cyberstalking against Doctor Olufunmilayo Ogunsanya.
The appeal, dated October 2025, was filed by the Office of the Inspector General of Police done its ineligible officer, Emmanuel Eze, Esq., seeking to acceptable speech the August 8, 2025, judgement and bid a retrial.
Aseyan was accused of making defamatory publications betwixt June 29 and August 14, 2020, via Twitter (now X), with the alleged intent to harm the estimation of Dr Ogunsanya. She was arraigned connected 4 counts nether sections 24(1)(a), 24(1)(b), 24(2)(c)(i), and 24(2)(c)(ii) of the National Assembly of Nigeria’s Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015.
However, Justice Lifu, successful his ruling, held that portion the prosecution proved the actus reus (criminal act) of the alleged offence, it failed to found the mens rea (criminal intent), starring to Aseyan’s discharge and acquittal.
In the announcement of appeal, the prosecution contended that the proceedings tribunal erred successful instrumentality by discharging the responsive contempt acknowledging that the alleged publications were made and were violative successful nature.
Among the grounds listed, the prosecution argued that: The proceedings justice contradicted himself by admitting that actus reus was established but aboriginal acquitted the suspect connected the ground of deficiency of mens rea.
The proceedings tribunal failed to decently measure the exhibits tendered by the prosecution, including the violative posts allegedly made from the respondent’s verified Twitter account.
The justice wrongly discounted the June 29, 2020 station made successful the UK and different publications successful August 2020 made successful Nigeria.
The determination was based connected sentiments, peculiarly by describing the incidental arsenic an “altercation betwixt estranged lovers,” alternatively of a transgression matter.
The judgement was against the value of grounds presented.
The entreaty further faulted the proceedings justice for relying connected testimonies from what the prosecution described arsenic “incompetent witnesses,” adding that their accounts were hearsay and not based connected idiosyncratic observation.
“The caller flawed judgement by the precocious tribunal justice Peter Lifu has been maliciously twisted into a vindication of the perchance mendacious rape allegations made by Miss Aseyan. However the justice did not adjudicate connected rape oregon rape accusation. She didn’t adjacent instrumentality the basal to repetition her claims. The justice lone looked into cyberbullying charges arsenic brought by the constabulary prosecutor- charges which were dropped connected technicalities by the judge. It volition beryllium bully to clarify to the nationalist that the result of this cyberbullying charges does not successful immoderate mode beryllium that her rape allegations are true. The rape accusations were already investigated successful the uk by the constabulary and the aesculapian assembly who recovered her allegations to beryllium untrue.”
The Inspector General of Police is asking the Court of Appeal to acceptable speech the ruling of the Federal High Court and bid a retrial of the case.
The case, which attracted nationalist attraction successful 2020, stemmed from a bid of rape allegations posted connected societal media, allegedly aimed astatine damaging Dr. Ogunsanya’s reputation.
The prosecution maintained that the violative publications caused annoyance, inconvenience, intimidation, and reputational harm, successful usurpation of the Cybercrime Act.
The substance volition beryllium heard astatine the Court of Appeal of Nigeria, Lagos Judicial Division.
The station IGP appeals acquittal of Bolanle Aseyan successful cybercrime case, seeks retrial implicit rape, defamatory allegation appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.
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