Dele Farotimi, the Nigerian human rights lawyer and activist, has spoken out, distancing himself from anyone seeking to mediate with legal luminary, Are Afe Babalola, on his behalf in a defamation case related to his book, “Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System.”
Farotimi on Friday made it clear that he opposed any attempts to mediate or beg for his release, stating that the legal process should take its natural course.
The activist, who said this while speaking with fellow human rights lawyer, Tope Temokun, who visited him, specifically addressed reports of visits to Babalola by supporters, including former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi.
However, he warned those who visited Afe Babalola, including Peter Obi, never to visit anyone to plead for his release.
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) and former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, met with Nigerian legal luminary, Afe Babalola, SAN, in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
Obi had pleaded with Babalola to consider the “situation” of human rights lawyer, Dele Farotimi, who is at the Ekiti prison.
Human rights lawyer, Temokun, told SaharaReporters on Friday that they visited Farotimi and he denied sending anyone to beg on his behalf.
Temokun stated that Farotimi was being held in prison while his opponents were filing lawsuits in Ibadan, Abuja, and Rivers, seemingly preparing for a legal battle.
He said, ironically, they were serving all the court processes on a man detained in a prison cell in Ekiti, where he could not readily defend himself.
According to Temokun, “Around 4:30pm of this day, Friday, the 13th of December, 2024, we stepped out of the Correctional Service (prison) in Afao road, Ado Ekiti, where we were with Dele Farotimi.
“He speaks calmly but with loud message. He is unambiguous about it, that all he wrote in his book is the truth. One thing is clear from this visit and hours long talk, that Dele Farotimi knows things that the crowd does not know.”
Temokun explained that Farotimi declared too that while he could not control who Peter Obi would visit in Ekiti, he never sent anyone to Babalola and he had warned those who had visited him, including Peter Obi, never to visit anyone to plead for his release.
“He wants this matter to travel the natural route. He disowned in categorical terms, any move by anybody to beg anyone on his behalf or as a condition for his release,” Temokun said.
“He assertively, vibrantly and untiringly posited that if he had added a single lie to his claims in his book, he would lose heavily in this battle. But if his weapon remains all truth, he will have the last laugh.
“Those who postulated that Dele Farotimi is reckless in his writings and documentations, should rather demand a fair play and a level play ground so that we could hear the other side.”
Temokun said that citizens should be interested to know what he knows as proof.
“But Farotimi is kept in prison while his opponents are tooling up in law suits in Ibadan, Abuja and Rivers seeminly poised for a fight and funnily serving all these court processes on a man in his prison cell in Ekiti where he cannot readily make his defence.
Temokun noted that a question that should bother everyone is this: this book has been out for some time, so why did it take so long to file all these lawsuits? Why did they have to wait until his arrest? Why did they have to wait until his remand? Why did they have to ensure he was kept out of circulation and his voice silenced before raising these issues? Why did they wait until now? Why?”
He said, “Is this how jurisprudence works? Is this how history works? Has jurisprudence developed in this way?
“A man is held in cuffs and at the gallows, yet some of us, in defense of orthodoxy, accuse him of blasphemy instead of demanding justice for all parties involved. They are convicting and crucifying Farotimi without hearing him, even in the home city of Pilate.”
“This rain rains in torrents but it shall not rain for long. It shall be temporary. Soon things will unravel. The ground will be dry again,” Temokun added.
