Dele Farotimi, the Nigerian human rights lawyer persecuted for weeks by senior lawyer Afe Babalola, has been released from prison in Ekiti.
On July 2, Farotimi released a book titled Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System.
Months after the 116-page book’s release Babalola accused Farotimi of defamation and this led to the human rights lawyer being arrested in a Gestapo-like manner at his Lagos office by a group of policemen attached to the Ekiti State Police Command on December 3.
Farotimi was then subsequently transported to Ekiti State.
Apart from the defamation charges initially brought against Farotimi at an Ekiti State Magistrate Court by Babalola’s team, Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), also filed 12 additional charges against the lawyer at an Ekiti Federal High Court on December 6.
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An Abuja High Court also subsequently ordered multiple security agencies in the country to seize physical copies of Farotimi’s book from all bookstands and stores nationwide.
The court also temporarily restrained Farotimi from “further publishing, selling, circulating, advertising, or distributing the physical/hard/digital/ soft copies of the book online, electronically, physically or by any other means”.
Farotimi’s trial then led to criticism from Nigerians with many calling for a protest to be staged against what they termed “an unlawful arrest”.
The lawyer was eventually granted bail by an Ekiti State Magistrate Court on December 20.
The bail conditions included a N30 million bond, two sureties, one of whom must be a property owner, a submission of Farotimi’s passport and a prohibition of Farotimi granting media interviews once released.
– fij