Defamation: Abuja, Oyo Courts Freeze Farotimi’s Book
BY EDMOND ODOK – As the legal tussle over defamation allegations rages on, two courts in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Oyo State have come hard on the controversial book published by human rights activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi.
On Wednesday, the FCT High Court in Abuja barred Farotimi, from further publishing, selling, circulating, advertising, or distributing the hard or soft copies of his book, ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’.
Similarly, the Oyo State High Court also granted an interim order restraining Farotimi or any person acting through him from further printing the controversial book.
The activist lawyer is currently embroiled in a legal battle with legal luminary and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Aare Afe Babalola, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) over the controversial book.
The Police have arraigned Farotimi before the Federal High Court in Ekiti State as well as an Ekiti State Magistrates’ Court, Ado-Ekiti over charges bordering on defamation and cyberbullying, stemming from a petition by Aare Babalola.
According to the police, Farotimi, in the book, accused Babalola and other SANs of corrupting Justices of the Supreme Court.
Following his arraignment in court, Farotimi has been remanded in prison.
On Wednesday, Justice Peter Kekemeke in Abuja heard an ex parte application filed by the Managing Partner at Afe Babalola’s law firm, Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN), praying for the seizure of the controversial book.
In granting Ogunwumiju’s prayers, the judge barred “the agents, publishers, distributors, sellers, re-publishers, re-sellers, or any other person from further publishing, selling, circulating, advertising, or distributing the physical/hard/digital/soft copies of the book online, electronically, physically or by any other means, including the social media.”
The judge also granted an order of interim injunction “directing the seizure of all physical copies of the book, wherever they may be found by the Nigeria Police Force, the State Security Service, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and all other security agencies.”
The order was granted pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction dated and filed on December 6, 2024.
The court also ordered that relevant security agencies should file an affidavit demonstrating compliance with the orders within 72 hours of their receipt of the ruling.
In a similar development, an Oyo State High Court granted an interim order restraining Farotimi or any person acting through him from further printing the controversial book.
The order was granted by Justice Mufutau Adegbola following an ex parte application made by Adebayo Adenipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, on behalf of Afe Babalola law firm.
The motion for an interlocutory injunction in this case is scheduled for hearing on January 7, 2025.
Criticisms have continued to trail the manner Police operatives reportedly arrested Farotimi on December 2 in Lagos and ferried to Ekiti State, where he appeared before the Chief Magistrates’ Court in the Ado Ekiti Division, on Wednesday, December 4, 2024.
Consequently, the Magistrate ordered his remand in the State’s correctional centre pending the ruling on his bail application.
