Ondo Pastor Bags Two Years Jail Term For Lying

One Pastor John Abiodun in Ondo State has been handed two years jail term for conspiring with others to give false reports on another clergy.

Naija News understands that a High Court sitting in Akure, the state capital on Thursday, January 21 ruled that the self-acclaimed pastor spend two years in prison for testifying falsely against a church founder.

Pastor Abiodun was said to have been arrested in 2019 after telling an untrue story about Akure based Pastor Gbenga Akinbiyi.

Naija News understands that the convict had accused the founder of Promiseland Prophetic Ministry of planting seven placentas on his church altar. Reports revealed that Abiodun was a former member of the church located in the Shasha area of Akure.

After findings revealed that Abiodun lied about the matter, he was arraigned alongside one Prof. Lanre Olu-Adeyemi, a lecturer of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko who also played a part in the conspiracy.

The duo were arraigned on eight counts bordering on conspiracy, a publication of false information, perjury, impersonation, threatening violence, among others.

The second defendant (Olu-Adeyemi) was the admin of a WhatsApp group on which the false accusation was published. After hearing from both the prosecutor and the defence counsel, the trial judge, Justice Bode Adegbehingbe, declared Abiodun guilty of count five of the charge.

According to him, the self-acclaimed clergy contradicted himself while giving evidence in the allegation against him, which included the use of different church WhatsApp platforms and other social media to malign, carry out false publication and wrongly accuse the founder of the church.

Adegbehingbe held that in law, “anybody found guilty of perjury was liable to life or 14 years’ imprisonment,”.

He, however, reduced the jail term to two years after several pleas by the defence counsel, Mr Olanrewaju Adesanmi.

“The first defendant is hereby sentenced to two years’ imprisonment,” the judge ruled.

Naija News understands that the second defendant was discharged and acquitted as the court said the investigation conducted by the police on his involvement in the matter was shoddy. The prosecuting counsel, Mr Kayode Dare, expressed satisfaction with the judgement, saying the court had vindicated Akinbiyi and other members of his church.

Meanwhile, Kano State High Court, appeal division, on Thursday set aside the death sentence passed on Kano singer, Aminu Yahaya Sharif, for blasphemy.

The State Chief Judge, Nuraddeen Sagir, in its ruling ordered a retrial of the case against Sharif who had filed an appeal to challenge the sentence, Naija News reports.