The lawyers to the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Afe Babalola, SAN, have said that embattled human rights lawyer, Dele Farotimi, will be freed until he can prove his allegations against the elder statesman.
The senior advocate, represented by his lawyers, Owoseni Ajayi, Olakanmi Falade and Lawrence Fasanmi, who are former chairmen of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ado Ekiti Branch, spoke on Friday at a press conference in the Ekiti State capital city.
Babalola’s lawyers, who said that he petitioned the police to investigate the defamatory allegations made by Farotimi in the book titled, ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System,’ said charging the activist to court by the law enforcement agency was for the law to take its due cause on the matter.
The lawyers added that the human rights lawyer was out to tarnish Babalola’s reputation, which he had built following many years of hard work and diligent toil.
The police in Ekiti State had, following a petition written by Babalola, arrested Farotimi in Lagos on Tuesday and arraigned him before an Ekiti State Magistrates Court in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday over allegations bordering on defaming the elder statesman.
While the police prayed the court to remand the defendant (Farotimi) to a correctional facility, Farotimi’s lawyer pleaded for bail for his client, but the Chief Magistrate, Abayomi Adeosun, ordered him remanded as he adjourned the matter till December 10, 2024.
Babalola’s lead lawyer and a former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General in Ekiti State, Owoseni Ajayi, said that the press conference was to correct the various misleading publications about the ongoing matter between the Nigerian Police and Farotimi over the issue of defaming Babalola.
He said, “All facts are verifiable. I urge Nigerians to verify and find out what the truth is first before picking a side.
“Aare Afe Babalola, in his petition, urged the police to use your good office to invite Mr Dele Farotimi to show proof of the truthfulness of his publication, failing of which he should be prosecuted for criminal defamation in accordance with the requirement of the extant laws of Nigeria.
“Confiscate all defamatory publications until the investigations are completed” and as well “stop Mr Dele Farotimi by himself and/or his agents from further publishing any defamatory contents to attack my hard-earned reputation, the reputation of my law firm and that of my lawyers and of the Nigerian judiciary”.
Ajayi queried, “Is it wrong for Aare Afe Babalola to seek justice for these false utterances against him? Should justice only be available to Mr Dele Farotimi because Aare Afe Babalola is a global icon?
“Once Mr Dele Farotimi can show proof that his assertions in the book are true, then he will be free. The law allows free speech, but not one that is calculated to injure the good reputation of another”.
He said that the police had done the right thing and needed to be commended for the manner in which the arrest was made and arraignment within 24 hours, adding, “The mode of arraignment was in order.
“Also, the book being distributed and accessed in Ekiti, so long as defamation is a crime in Ekiti, this has established criminal liability within Ekiti, placing it under the investigatory jurisdiction of the police and the jurisdiction of the Ekiti State High court, given the cross-state nature of the alleged crime.