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A Nigerian senator has told the BBC she only learnt that the government was suing her “on the news” and that she was “shocked” by the action taken against her.<\/p>\n
The government filed defamation charges against Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan after she accused one of the country’s top politicians of plotting to kill her.<\/p>\n
In April, Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former state governor Yahaya Bell wanted to “eliminate” her. Both have denied this accusation.<\/p>\n
She had previously accused Akpabio of sexually harassing her – an allegation he has also denied.<\/p>\n
After learning of the charges against her, Akpoti-Uduaghan told the BBC: “I’m actually shocked. My first reaction when I read it is out of shock, because I have not been served [with papers] until now. I had to read it on the news.”<\/p>\n
The BBC has asked the Nigerian government for comment.<\/p>\n
In the charge sheet, seen by the BBC, Nigeria’s attorney general referenced a live interview broadcast by Nigeria’s Channels TV last month.<\/p>\n
Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged in the interview that there were “discussions that Akpabio had with Yahaya Bello… to eliminate me”.<\/p>\n
The attorney general said that this statement, and others made in the same broadcast, could harm Bello and Akpabio’s reputations.<\/p>\n
But Akpoti-Uduaghan stands by her allegation. She said she had even gone to the police with the accusation that Akpabio and Bello posed a threat to her life.<\/p>\n
“Do you understand the twist? I was the one who ran to the police. I made my petitions, I appeared on television, I spoke publicly on the threat to my life,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Instead, it is the senate president and [former] governor Yahaya Bello’s counter-petition, which is me defaming them, that is being attended to.”<\/p>\n
Akpoti-Uduaghan said the charges were an attempt to “intimidate her” and make her “fall in line” after she accused Akabio of sexual harassment in February.<\/p>\n
“It’s an ill that has been normalised in the society – sexual harassment. But here I am speaking about it… that was my first offence. Natasha is not supposed to speak about it. I’m supposed to bear it as a woman,” she told the BBC.<\/p>\n
The charges mark the latest twist in a row that has engrossed Nigeria, raising questions about gender equality in the socially conservative nation.<\/p>\n
Akpoti-Uduaghan is one of just four women out of 109 senators.<\/p>\n
After accusing Akabio of sexual harassment, she was suspended from the Senate for six months without pay.<\/p>\n
The Senate’s ethics committee said the suspension was for her “unruly and disruptive” behaviour while the Senate was debating her allegations.<\/p>\n
However, Akpoti-Uduaghan and her supporters argued that the committee was targeting her because of the allegations she had made against the senate president.<\/p>\n
No date has been set for her to appear in court.<\/p>\n
Additional reporting by Nkechi Ogbonna and Chukwunaeme Obiejesi in Lagos<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nMore Nigeria stories from the BBC:<\/h2>\n