UK princes William and Harry denounce ‘offensive’ newspaper report

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince William and his younger
brother Harry publicly denounced an “offensive” newspaper report
about their relationship on Monday, as the royals met for crunch
talks to discuss the future roles of Harry and his American wife
Meghan.

The Times, citing an unnamed source, reported that Harry and
Meghan had been pushed away by “a bullying attitude” of William who
had not been welcoming to Meghan.

“Despite clear denials, a false story ran in a UK newspaper
today speculating about the relationship between The Duke of Sussex
and The Duke of Cambridge,” said the statement issued by the
offices for William and Harry.

“For brothers who care so deeply about the issues surrounding
mental health, the use of inflammatory language in this way is
offensive and potentially harmful.”

Buhari’s Adviser Demands N500 Million From Young
Journalists over Report on Hemp-Smoking

The Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Finance and
Economy, Ms. Sarah Alade, has demanded the sum of N500 million from
two young journalists, Messrs Alfred Olufemi (21years) and Gidado
Yushau (23 years), over an investigative report on hemp smoking
published in NewsDigest, Abuja-based online newspaper, on May 19,
2018.

The investigative report titled: “Inside Kwara factory where
Indian hemp smoking is ‘legalized,” was authored by Alfred, an
award-winning Campus Journalist during his days as a student
reporter at Obafemi Awolowo University and published by Gidado, the
Editor of the NewsDigest.

According to the report, Hillcrest Agro-Allied Industry, one of
the groups of companies owned by the former Deputy Governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Ms Alade, tolerated the smoking of
cigarettes, as well as Indian hemp by workers within its
vicinity.

The report also stated that the industry refused to respond to
Mr Olufemi’s inquiry on the disturbing situation after he had put
several calls and text messages to the industry’s hotlines.

Before now, the two defendants were arraigned before a
Magistrate Court in Ilorin Metropolis for Criminal conspiracy and
defamation against Sections 97 and 192 of the penal code. The duo
pleaded not guilty.

Following the bail application made by defence counsel, Mr.
Usman Belgore, the Chief Magistrate of the Court, Magistrate A.O
Muhammed released the defendants on grounds of recognition and that
they are innocent until proven otherwise.

The conditions of bail include two sureties each who are
relatives of the defendants with a bail bond of N200,000.

The case was adjourned for hearing on January 13, 2020. However,
when the matter was called on Monday, the prosecutor could not
provide his witness and as such, the Magistrate further adjourned
to January 28.

Fresh case:

In addition, after the adjournment on Monday, the two
Journalists were served with writ of summons by the legal
practitioner of Hillcrest Agro-Allied Industries Limited.

In the summon obtained by PRNigeria^[1], the company demanded
the sum of N500 million from the duo.

They also sought an order compelling the defendants to retract
and delete the links of the report from their platform and ensure
the deletion of same from all platforms on the internet that have
copied it.

Besides, Hillcrest is asking for an apology on their online news
platform and two national dailies.

By PRNigeria^[2]

Previous Story:
Police Arraign Young Editor, Campus Journalist over
Report on Presidential Adviser’s Factory
Read: https://prnigeria.com/2019/11/13/police-editor-campus-journalist/^[3]