A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Victor Opara, has faulted the group called Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDHR) for a publication in Vanguard Newspaper of 6th June, 2023 titled \u2018CSO faults NDLEA\u2019s drug war over release of Ukatu\u2019.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Opara who is counsel to Mallinson Ukatu said the CDHR spokesperson, Adebayo Lion Ogorry, who signed the statement, has acted contrary to the law, which has pronounced Ukatu innocent until court proves otherwise.<\/p>\n
Opara stressed that Ukstu is not a criminal adding that his Chambers secured Ukatu\u2019s release after applying to the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa, over the unlawful rearrest and detention of his client at NDLEA\u2019s facility Muritala Muhammed International Airport Ikeja, Lagos<\/p>\n
He asked the general public to disregard the misleading defamatory publication by the CDHR
\nHis words, \u201cThere is no iota of truth in that story. As a matter of fact, it is highly libellous, very injurious to the character of Chief Mallinson Afamefuna Ukatu.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed, it is true that Mallinson is facing some criminal charges, but he has pleaded not guilty to those charges, and in accordance with the law, he has been admitted to bail.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a constitutional presumption of innocence that as it is explained in section 36 of 1999 constitution. Mallinson has not been convicted by any court of law, and he is not a convicted drug dealer.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore, Mallinson is free to partake in religious activities, he is free to partake in any launching, until he is convicted and sentenced, so there is a presumption of innocence, as long as he has pleaded not guilty to the charges.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria warned Opera news, Ogorry, and his group to desist from engaging in campaign of calumny, which is injurious to the character and reputation of his client.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoreover, the court is a public place, and anyone that is interested in knowing the truth should verify the story, as you can easily have access to the records of court.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, I urge everybody to disregard the story and not to accord it any iota of importance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have full instructions to take every legal action to protect his character and reputations,\u201d Barr. Opara warned.<\/p>\n
For his part, Ukatu said he never confessed to the importation of tramadol worth N22 billion to anybody, adding that he is ready to face the allegations in court squarely.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never confessed to importation of any tramadol worth of N22 billion. I never confessed to the commission of any crime.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is highly surprising to see that newspapers publish such stories without verification. I have never been convicted by any court nor sentenced,\u201d Ukatu stressed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Victor Opara, has faulted the group called Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDHR) for a publication in Vanguard Newspaper of 6th June, 2023 titled \u2018CSO faults NDLEA\u2019s drug war over release of Ukatu\u2019. In a statement, Opara who is counsel to Mallinson Ukatu said the CDHR spokesperson, Adebayo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2082"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2084,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2082\/revisions\/2084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}