Ekiti court that ordered the remand of author-activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, and his tormentor, Afe Babalola, SAN, have come under attack from Afenifere.
Farotimi’s ordeal is the unpleasant consequence of his latest book entitled: Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System in which he imputed corrupting the judiciary including Supreme Court to Babalola.
Facing defamation charges the activist was dragged to Ekiti by police from his base in Lagos by road in the night, and arraigned before an Ekiti court whose judge rejected his bail application and instead ordered his remand.
The public inference that the treatment meted out to Farotimi was cruel gained traction with Afenifere.
The Yoruba sociopolitical organisation in a statement by its Deputy Leader , Oba Oladipo Olaitan and the National Publicity Secretary Deputy Leader , Prince Justice Faloye, wrote: “The proceedings at the Ado-Ekiti Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Wednesday ) wherein Dele Farotimi was, despite the application of his counsel, denied bail and ordered to be remanded at the correctional centre for such billable offence of defamation after each of the 16 counts in the charge had been read and to which he respectively pleaded not guilty, only confirmed the fears of well-meaning people all over the world that these processes were driven by extraneous considerations outside the facts and laws of the case.
“This is further buttressed by the fact that the book containing the alleged defamatory statements was authored and published in Lagos where the defendant resides and was abducted and at which airport the petitioner claimed a copy was obtained.
“As contained in the charge the only ridiculous reason for shopping for Ado-Ekiti as the forum of arraignment is that the book titled ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System’ was received and read all over the world including Ado-Ekiti. The only inference that could be drawn from this is that there is no territorial limit for the trial of the alleged offence, which is laughable.
“It is ironical that the judiciary which act is apparently the subject of Farotimi’s book and trial, may by this insensitive indiscretion also be putting itself on trial before the world either for incompetence or apparent undue influence.”
