Valentine Ozigbo, Labour Party chieftain and frontline Governorship hopeful in Anambra State in the November 8, 2025 Governorship election on Thursday said that the arrest and imprisonment of renowned human rights and good governance advocate, Dele Farotimi, is a wrong turn in Nigeria’s match to build a durable democracy.
Dele Farotimi was arrested in Lagos on Monday by policemen from Ekiti State Command and whisked to Ado Ekiti and arraigned on Wednesday in a Magistrate Court, Ado Ekiti Division.
According to a statement by Ozigbo, “Well-meaning Nigerians should be worried that the Nigeria Police should be involved in a desperate search to silence this conscience of the nation and an advocate of good governance and a New Nigeria where truth and justice indeed reigns. The way he has been treated sends the wrong signal to Nigerians and her friends abroad.
“It is a wrong turn for freedom of speech and our efforts to build an enduring democracy. Treating any Nigeria the way Dele Farotimi has been treated does not augur well for the psyche of our youths who will see it as another failure of the institutions of the State to protect the citizens from the misuse of power and freedom from arbitrary arrest or deliberate high-handedness. Arresting any Nigerian should be devoid of such drama and deliberate show of negative strength.
“I call on all well-meaning Nigerians to join in the campaign to ensure justice for Dele Farotimi and ensure that this will be the last of any orchestrated maltreatment of any Nigerian.”
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