Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, has said that activist lawyer, Dele Farotimi, will be set free only when he shows proofs of the defaming allegations against him.
Babalola said Farotimi was determined to smear his reputation which he had built after many years of hard work and diligent toil.
The elder statesman said that he petitioned the police to investigate the defamatory allegations made by Farotimi in the book titled, ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System,’ adding that charging the activist to court by the police was meant to allow the law to take its right course on the matter.
The revered legal luminary spoke on Friday, December 6, through his lawyers, Owoseni Ajayi, Olakanmi Falade and Lawrence Fasanmi, who have served as chairmen of Nigerian Bar Association, Ado Ekiti Branch, at a press conference in Ado Ekiti, the State capital.
The Daily Crucible reports that the police acting on a petition written by Chief Babalola, arrested Farotimi in Lagos on Tuesday, December 3, 2024 and arraigned him before an Ekiti State Magistrates Court in Ado Ekiti the following day over allegations bordering on defaming the elder statesman.
In court, while the police asked the court to remand Farotimi in correctional facility, the activist’s lawyer pleaded for bail for his client, but the Chief Magistrate, Abayomi Adeosun, ordered him remanded and adjourned the matter till December 10, 2024.
Addressing newsmen, Babalola’s lead lawyer, Ajayi, a former commissioner for Justice and Attorney General in Ekiti State, said that the press briefing was necessitated by the need to correct the various misleading publications about the ongoing matter between the Nigerian Police and Farotimi regarding the alleged defaming of Babalola.
Ajayi urged Nigerians to verify all facts pertaining to the matter before taking any side.
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 offices 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.
“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.”
Meanwhile, the police have filed fresh charges against Farotimi at a federal high court in Ado-Ekiti.
The new charges bordered on cybercrime allegations peeled off the activist’s online interviews on Mic On Podcast hosted by popular broadcast journalist, Seun Okinbaloye.
In the said interview, the police claimed that Farotimi accused Babalola of corrupting the judiciary.
The first count of the new charges read, “That you Dele Farotimi ‘m’ on 28th August 2024 knowingly and intentionally transmitted communication in an online interview on Mic On Podcast by Seun Okinbaloye on your YouTube Channel (http://youtube.com/watch?v=4USuxB…) in respect of a book authored and published by you titled: “Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System” wherein you stated in the interview that: “Aare Afe Babalola corrupted the judiciary” which you know to be false information for the purpose of causing the breakdown of law and order thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 24(1) (b) of Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act 2015 as amended.”
