Outrage over detention of Dele Farotimi as activists plan nationwide protests

The Ekiti State Police Command’s efforts to block protests against the continued detention of human rights lawyer Dele Farotimi have ignited widespread anger among activists and the public.

While the police maintain that their decision to prohibit demonstrations is aimed at safeguarding lives and property, activists have doubled down, declaring Tuesday, December 10, as the day for nationwide protests. Furthermore, plans are underway to extend the protests to Lagos, Abuja, and even the United Kingdom to highlight what they describe as the unlawful arrest, detention, and trial of Farotimi.

Farotimi’s arrest stems from a defamation petition filed by Chief Afe Babalola, SAN. The case has drawn criticism from various quarters, including the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), which argues that criminal defamation has been decriminalized under the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011. The NBA referenced the Supreme Court’s ruling in Aviomoh v. Commissioner of Police & Anor (2021), which effectively repealed defamation as a criminal offence.

Farotimi, known for his outspoken views, had alleged in his book Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System that Babalola influenced the Supreme Court to secure a fraudulent judgment for his clients.

Bail application

Unconcerned, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, in the 2023 general elections, Mr Omoyele Sowore, and other rights activists in London have planned a protest for Tuesday when the court hearing of bail application filed by Farotimi’s legal team is schedule to sit.

Although the Police Public Relations Officer of the state’s command, DSP Sunday Abutu, in a statement, said: “any form of unlawful gathering, demonstration or protest is unacceptable as the intelligence report available has it that some unscrupulous individuals have planned to hide under this protest to hijack it and unleash mayhem and create apprehension in the state,” Sowore urged Nigerians to use the demonstration in calling for Farotimi’s release.

Venue

The publisher of Sahara Reporters said this via his X, formerly Twitter, noting that the point of convergence in Abuja will be the Ministry of Justice and Federal High Court, Abuja; Ekiti convergence point is the Police Headquarters Ado-Ekiti ; convergence point in Lagos will be the Afe Babalola Chambers at Emmanuel House, Plot 1, Block 4, CMD/Jubilee Road, Magodo; and meeting point at the United Kingdom is King’s College London.

Sowore stated: “The @PoliceNG can’t ban protests anywhere; we are getting loads of Nigerian citizens to shut down Ado-Ekiti on December 10, 2024, from 7 am. Buses are ready for those coming from out of state.

#FreeDeleFarotimiNow 1. Abuja convergence: Ministry of Justice and Federal High Court, Abuja 2. Ekiti parapo convergence: Police Headquarters Ado-Ekiti 3. Lagos convergence: Afe Babalola Chambers, Lagos Address: Emmanuel House, Plot 1, Block 4, CMD/Jubilee Road, Magodo GRA, Lagos 4. London UK CONVERGENCE: King’s College London Address: Strand, London, WC2R 2LS global online and offline revolt against the nigerian judiciary! Date: December 10, 2024. Time: 7 AM West African Time.”