A group named, Take It Back Movement, is mobilising people for protests in Ekiti, Lagos, Abuja and London in respect of alleged oppression of human rights activist, lawyer and author, Dele Farotimi.
Farotimi is facing defamation charges arising from allegation of corrupting the judiciary he levelled against Afe Babalola, SAN, in his book.
On that grounds, the police bundled from his Lagos base to Ekiti in the night and arraigned him before the court, with the judge not acceding to his bail application but ordered his remand to the displeasure of many including Take It Back Movement.
The group convened by former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has begun mobilisation for protests in Ekiti, Lagos, Abuja and London.
A flyer circulating on social media on Thursday issued by the TIB and tagged “Nationwide/Global Protest Against the Judiciary” called on the public to converge at designated points in Ekiti, Abuja, Lagos and London on December 10, 2024.
The National Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, Juwon Sanyaolu, on Thursday, said the movement would be staging the action to bring to bear what he described as “impunity of the Nigeria Police and the conspiracy of the judiciary.”
“The Gestapo manner of arrest or what I call abduction of Farotimi from Lagos to Ekiti confirms what we have always condemned about the illegality of some actions of the police. In a situation where private individuals can now hire the police to molest another citizen, we all are not safe.
“The fact that the court also refused to grant the accused an oral bail is concerning. It shows that the state allows selective justice for a privileged few and injustice for the many.
“It is on this note that we will be challenging on the street, the employment of the instruments of the law against not just Farotimi, but also the majority of Nigerians who have been victims of this. All Nigerians of good conscience must join the action to demand accountability in the judiciary,” Sanyaolu told The PUNCH in an interview.
