A court in Washington DC, United States has dismissed a libel suit filed by Mustapha Audu, a son of deceased former Governor of Kogi State, Abubakar Audu, against Sugabelly, who had taken to social media to accuse him of rape several years ago.
Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, disclosed this in a series of tweets via his Twitter handle on Wednesday morning.
In a viral blog post titled “Surviving Mustapha Audu, and his Rape Brigade”, Sugabelly had accused Mustapha Audu of raping and organising for others to rape her.
In June 2017, Mustapha Audu instituted the case at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (Civil Division) and joined his younger, Bashir, as a plaintiff.
In the suit, he asked the court to dismiss allegations of rape levelled against him by Sugabelly, claiming they were false and calculated to damage his reputation.
He also prayed the court to award damages against the defendant.
However, the court dismissed the case with prejudice, requiring him to pay all the costs of the defendant.
Reacting to the judgement, Odinkalu said, “Appeals are no longer available against the court decision dismissing Mustapah Audu’s spurious case againt @Sugabelly. So, the decision is now final & the vindication of @sugabelly is judicially confirmed – Mustapha Audu is a rapist”.
Read tweets below:
A little over 10 yrs ago, a teenage girl began keeping electronic diaries of harrowing sexual abuse. This later broke onto #Nigeria's social media. She was known as @sugabelly. Many ppl did not believe her. Today, I'd like to tell a little story I call #SugabellyVindicated
— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) October 24, 2018
When it began, she was 17. The chief culprits, who were 1 decade older than her or more were the sons of 2 #Nigerian big men – a state Governor & an Admiral who led the military. The allegations looked too detailed to be made up, surely too serious to ignore#SugabellyVindicated
— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) October 24, 2018
While some showed her empathy, she also received unspeakable nastiness & abuse form ppl who forgot, as @damiodiachi rightly pointed out, that "it's hard to believe that she wld embrace a country's worth of cyber-bullying for fame." https://t.co/GtWllOa7CI#SugabellyVindicated
— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) October 24, 2018
One disinterested person, @damiodiachi, took the trouble of disinterring this tale of three years' worth of sexual and concluded that @sugabelly was very credible#SugabellyVindicated pic.twitter.com/AbFuycGPFp
— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) October 24, 2018
On social media, however, @sugabelly was set upon, finally being forced off this space by abuse of that no one shd be subjected to. Having survived sexual abuse, she became the victim of cyber-abuse. Those who physically abused her became her cyber-traducers#SugabellyVindicated
— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) October 24, 2018
In June 2017, 1 of the persons whom @sugabelly had named as her rapist, Mustapha Audu, son of former Kogi state Governor, Abubakar Audu, filed a suit in the courts in Washington DC, USA against her for libel because she clearly said he was a rapist#SugabellyVindicated pic.twitter.com/dVNqQcLMKo
— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) October 24, 2018
In his suit against @sugabelly, Mustapha Audu, who joined his younger brother, Bashir as plaintiff, claimed the allegations of rape were false. He asked for damages, jury trial & injunctions. The young woman cld have been ruined….#SugabellyVindicated pic.twitter.com/pxgaD1hJ0X
— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) October 24, 2018
Once issues were joined, Mustapha Audu's case began to unravel. Earlier this year, the court dismissed his case with prejudice, requiring him to pay all the costs of @sugabelly#SugabellyVindicated pic.twitter.com/JUUKltySmj
— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) October 24, 2018
Essentially, as @damiodiachi suspected over 3 yrs ago, @sugabelly was both right & credible. Mustapha Audu committed rape. This rapist tried to use judicial attrition to export his #Nigeria impunity to the USA. This courageous young woman stopped him.#SugabellyVindicated
— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) October 24, 2018
Appeals are no longer available against the court decision dismissing Mustapah Audu's spurious case againt @sugabelly. So, the decision is now final & the vindication of @sugabelly is judicially confirmed – Mustapha Audu is a rapist#SugabellyVindicated
— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) October 24, 2018
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