By Olaitan Ibrahim
Operatives of the Nigerian Police Force have reportedly arrested human rights lawyer, Dele Farotimi.
Farotimi’s arrest was revealed by the 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, in a post on his X handle on Tuesday.
Sowore called for the lawyer’s immediate release, emphasising that the police should not be used to settle personal disputes.
Sowore wrote, “It is pertinent that the Nigerian police are notified that the institution cannot continue to be used to settle personal scores, and we, the citizens of Nigeria, would no longer tolerate such a situation.
“Therefore, the police at Zone 2 in Lagos are advised to release Barrister Dele Farotimi immediately.”
However, PUNCH Online made a phone call to the police spokesperson at the Zone 2 Command, SP Ummar Ayuba, who refuted the arrest claim.
She simply said, “We did not make any arrest. He is not in our custody.”
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti State, Mr Adeniran Akinwale, told PUNCH Online that the lawyer was arrested for various alleged offences.
The commissioner said that the offences committed included “defamation of character, cyberstalking, and other things. But those two are fully established.
“That was why we have been looking for him before we were able to arrest him.
“We are investigating him. If the suspect is arrested, we will bring him for investigation. We will conduct our investigation and will be able to know his level of culpability or otherwise.” In a related development, foremost lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana, SAN, has confirmed that human rights lawyer Dele Farotimi was arrested over an alleged criminal libel.
In a statement he signed, Falana disclosed that Farotimi was arrested in Lagos State over alleged defamation on Tuesday, stating that his arrest was illegal.
Falana demanded Farotimi’s unconditional release from police custody, noting that Lagos State is among the two states in Nigeria that have decriminalised defamation.
The statement read, “I just confirmed that Mr. Dele Farotimi was arrested in Lagos today for alleged criminal libel.
“In demanding Mr. Farotimi’s unconditional release from illegal custody, I wish to state, without any fear of contradiction, that Lagos State is among the two states in Nigeria that have decriminalised defamation in its entirety.
“In fact, the current state of the law was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in the case of Aviomoh v. Commissioner of Police & Anor. (2021) LPELR-55203(SC) when Helen Ogunwumiju JSC held that “Defamation was decriminalised in the Criminal Law of Lagos in 2011 and Edo State Criminal Law Bill 2020.”