Nigeria, Feb. 23 -- The Kwara State High Court, sitting as an appellate court in Ilorin, has discharged and acquitted two journalists convicted of publishing a defamatory article against a rice factory, faulting the police and trial magistrate's ruling.

In February 2023, a magistrate's court convicted Alfred Olufemi, an investigative reporter, and Gidado Shuaib, editor of Abuja-based News Digest, over a report against Hillcrest Agro-Allied Industries Limited.

The report published in News Digest in 2018 detailed how the company's staff members smoked Indian hemp freely within its premises, violating relevant laws and health regulations.

In his verdict, the trial magistrate, A.S. Muhammad, found the journalists guilty of criminal conspir...