Good day my able, certified and experience lawyers in the house. Please i am humbly and in desperate need of Una advise;

Please kindly read through. Where I am station to do my youth service here; there's this woman, she's my tribal person, ever since she know that I speak her language she has always been very friendly to me. So, she has an issue and she seek my advise as a literate person that I am. So, I bring it to your able listen;

The woman owns a small local canteen, there's some new Mallam that enter the area. Since they came in, they've been eating at the woman's shop and they've not been paying her. They are owing her over 10k now. In nutshell, I think the woman said something to someone but the person (misquoted) her as she claims. She claimed she said that the Mallam want to suck her dry (ruin her business) bur the person she said it to as a form of complaint went and told the Mallam that the woman said the Mallam is sucking people's blood. So, the Mallam went to the police station and report, police called both of them and the man wrote a statement bur the woman was detained for over 9 hours. When the Mallam came back, he came with a court order asking the woman to appear in court for deformation of character. The woman has called all the prominent people in the neighborhood to beg the Mallam, she said she's ready to forgo the money in question but the Mallam said no. They must go to court.

My questions are;
1. Please what should the woman do.
2. Is it allow by law for an individual to go to court and charge someone, I thought it's the work of policemen.
3. On the letter, the woman is address as mama amala, which is not her real name. ( In my own opinion, I thought she may choose not to honour the order as it's not written in her name) just my thought tho.

So, lawyers please advise.

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1. Appear in court and tell them exactly what she said.. The court will give her a lawyer if she CNT afford one. She can go to legal aid in the state or FIDA to lay a complaint and they will give her a lawyer if she doesn't trust the court. No matter what happens she shudnt plead guilty.
2. An individual can institute a criminal matter however he/she must get a FIAT from the ministry of Justice. My wonder is how he managed to get that within 9hrs. It takes time really. But then, on defamation there are both the criminal and civil side. So the man may just have instituted the civil side himself and left the criminal hanging at the police station because you cannot start the civil without having reported the criminal.
3. Not going to Court would amount to contempt of court which only makes her matter worse. No b who call police dey win case. Make she go and tell them exactly what she meant. She may even end up collecting the debt owed her and more sef.

But........

Plz hold on while I direct you to ifa...lol

Consultation for free Hell No....

brb.

Hold on for my professional advice

Lawyers in the house over to you