COZA: Busola Dakolo Heads To Appeal Court

Hours after a High Court’s ruling on Busola Dakolo’s rape suit against Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), the celebrity photographer is set to appeal the judgement.

Naijaparry learnt that the court in Abuja ruled out the case and awarded Fatoyinbo a sum of one million Naira Damage.

The court ordered Busola to pay a sum of N1 million for ‘cruelty to Fatoyinbo’ and held that the fine should have been 10 times more because the court’s time was wasted.

In her judgement, Justice Oathman Musa held that the matter amounted to injustice, describing the case as an abuse of judicial process.

However, Busola’s lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, said they would appeal the judgment.

Olajengbesi said: “We have received several calls after the ruling of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting at Bwari this morning seeking our view on the decision of the court, hence, this statement.

“The court ruled that the matter is statute-barred because the events that crystallised to the cause of action took place 16 years ago and that the claimant Mrs. Busola Dakolo has only six years within which to seek redress in court in line with the statute of limitation.”

He said: “While we acknowledge the time of the court, we know in accordance with the Nigerian judicial system that the Court’s decision is not final as it is glaringly contestable. For all intent and purposes, having seen several sponsored misleading news reports in the media, we are duty-bound to state that the court has not and did not exonerate Biodun Fatoyinbo.

“As it stands, the substance of the matter has not received any judicial attention. Biodun Fatoyinbo, through his lawyers has only argued that the court should not allow the matter to proceed to trial because it is an event that occurred long ago and hence out of time. We shall therefore in this circumstance approach a superior court to intervene for a better appreciation, and take a more expansive view of the suit considering that the subject matter is one that is novel in our clime” Busola’s lawyer added.

The celebrity photographer had accused Fatoyinbo of raping her on two different occasions in 2002 in her family house when she was a teenager.