Justice Iyabo Yerima of the Ring Road High Court, Ibadan, Oyo State has ordered Messrs Wale Ojo-Lanre and Cosmas Oni to appear before her on June 27, 2016 to explain whether they are ready to settle out of court with their four assaulted colleagues who had slammed them with N500 million damages or face definite hearing forthwith.
The Judge made the order on Friday following the journalists’ consistent refusal to attend court sittings since 2009 when their colleagues instituted the action through their counsel, Otunba Kunle Kalejaye (SAN).
Sola Adeyemo (the then Oyo State Bureau Chief of Nigerian Compass), Ademola Babalola (then Senior Reporter of Nigerian Compass), Dele Ogunsola (the State Correspondent of Daily Independent), and Adeloye Aderogba (then Oyo State Correspondent of The Herald Newspaper) had on July 25, 2009 attended the monthly Congress of the Nigeria Union of Journalists under the then chairmanship of Ojo-Lanre, but were ordered to get out of the Executive Chamber of the meeting because they were not supposed to be in attendance.
The insistence of the journalists to exercise their rights as qualified professionals irrespective of plan to disenfranchise them from the then imminent Council election, made Ojo-Lanre to go into his office and put a phone call to the Police Commander at the Iyaganku Division, claiming that armed robbers had invaded the NUJ premises.
Being that armed robbers had on two occasions previously invaded the NUJ premises, the heavily armed policemen acted promptly and viciously brutalised the journalists who were pointed at by both Ojo-Lanre and Oni as the “armed robbers”.
After being mercilessly beaten, tear-gassed and treated like common criminals, the four journalists were sandwiched into the back seat of a police van and driven to the Iyaganku Police Station where the then Officer-in-Charge, simply identified as Inspector Marvis, profusely apologised upon discovering that Ojo-Lanre had deceived them with his false distress call.
The case had earlier been heard by two Judges within the seven years of its litigation before it was recently transferred to Justice Yerima, who felt dismayed that despite the notice for hearing of the case to commence, which was duly served on Ojo-Lanre, Oni and their lawyer, Ranti Ajeleti, the two defendants still failed to come to court to defend themselves or show readiness for out-of-court settlement.
Adetunji Muraina of Kalejaye Chambers told the court that the defendants had refused to initiate a meeting for out-of-court settlement as had been indicated before the previous court, but Ajeleti said he had seen and discussed with Kalejaye in the court premises on two occasions.
Justice Yerima however observed that Ajeleti, a former journalist himself, did not demonstrate the required zeal to broker a truce between the parties, urging him to do the needful before the next adjourned date.
Having adjourned the matter till June 27, 2016 for report of settlement or commencement of definite hearing of the case, the Judge ordered that both Ojo-Lanre and Oni “must appear before this court on the next adjourned date”.
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