Court jails UNIZIK ex-lecturer over defamatory post on Facebook

Peter Ekemezie, a former lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (UNIZIK), has been sentenced to six months in prison for defamation.

Ekemezie’s case was presented before the Awka magistrates’ court on Tuesday.

The lecturer was convicted on three counts of charges bordering on forgery and defamation.

He was said to have published defamatory statements against one Alex Asigbo, a professor at UNIZIK.

Asigbo earlier told the court that Ekemezie forged his signature when he refused to give him a witness statement. He said he had urged Ekemezie to procure a subpoena.

The professor said Ekemezie thereafter took to Facebook to put out a series of defamatory statements against him.

Delivering his judgment, E.C. Chukwu, the presiding judge, ruled that Ekemezie be sentenced to six months in prison.

The judge, however, gave the accused lecturer an option of N300,000 fine.

Chukwu said he was being lenient because the defendant had spent one month in a psychiatric home and four months in a correctional centre.

PUNCH quoted Emmanuel Ojukwu, the spokesperson to UNIZIK VC, as saying that Ekemezie was relieved of his duties at the varsity many years ago.

“He left the services of UNIZIK several years ago due to inadequacies in degrees, there were several loopholes in his credentials and his matter was treated before the Council and he was sent away,” Emmanuel was quoted to have said while clarifying if Ekemezie was still a lecturer of the varsity.

“Before then, he was at the Department of Chemistry.”