As a group, Take It Back Movement, convened by the former Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has begun mobilisation for protests in Ekiti, Lagos, Abuja and London over the police and the judiciary’s handling of the alleged defamation of character and cyberbullying case against rights activist, Dele Farotimi, the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) on Friday appealed to the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) to handle the case with wisdom and understanding.
This is just as the pan-Yoruba sociopolitical organisation, Afenifere, faulted Farotimi’s remand by the Magistrate.
A flyer circulating on social media since Thursday issued by the TIB and tagged “Nationwide/Global Protest Against the Judiciary” called on the public to converge at designated points in Ekiti, Abuja, Lagos and London on December 10, 2024.
The National Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, Juwon Sanyaolu, on Thursday, said the movement would be staging the action to bring to bear what he described as “impunity of the Nigeria Police and the conspiracy of the judiciary.”
“The Gestapo manner of arrest or what I call abduction of Farotimi from Lagos to Ekiti confirms what we have always condemned about the illegality of some actions of the police. In a situation where private individuals can now hire the police to molest another citizen, we all are not safe.
“The fact that the court also refused to grant the accused an oral bail is concerning. It shows that the state allows selective justice for a privileged few and injustice for the many.
“It is on this note that we will be challenging on the street, the employment of the instruments of the law against not just Farotimi, but also the majority of Nigerians who have been victims of this. All Nigerians of good conscience must join the action to demand accountability in the judiciary,” Sanyaolu told The PUNCH in an interview.
In a post on X on Thursday, Sowore said the mobilisation “is taking serious shape.”
“The Abuja movement on December 10 is taking serious shape. People are to converge as early as 7 AM at the Federal Ministry of Justice, where the office of the Attorney General of the Federation is based.
“We must also occupy the entire Federal High Court Complex and then march on to the Police HQ. We must not forget that every crime against humanity in Nigeria is usually hatched between the @PoliceNG and the Nigerian judiciary,” he wrote, urging people to “please arrive early!”
On Wednesday, Farotimi’s lawyer, Temitope Temokun, while faulting the arrest of Farotimi from Lagos, said the Ekiti command never invited Farotimi as claimed by the police.
Temokun said, “He was invited by Zone 2 (regional headquarters of the police) on two occasions, and he went there.”
“But why would you be inviting somebody to Ekiti from Lagos on something that happened in Lagos? However, he was never invited, and if he had been invited, as a lawyer, I would advise him not to go.”
The lawyer said the fact that Farotimi was taken out of Lagos to Ekiti “is a wrong foundation that nobody can justify.”
“It means that whatever thing they are even going to do tomorrow, it has put a question mark on that process.”
Meanwhile, Afenifere, in a statement on Thursday by its Deputy Leader , Oba Oladipo Olaitan and the National Publicity Secretary Deputy Leader, Prince Justice Faloye, faulted Farotimi’s remand by the court.
The group said, “The proceedings at the Ado-Ekiti Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Wednesday ) wherein Dele Farotimi was, despite the application of his counsel, denied bail and ordered to be remanded at the correctional centre for such billable offence of defamation after each of the 16 counts in the charge had been read and to which he respectively pleaded not guilty, only confirmed the fears of well-meaning people all over the world that these processes were driven by extraneous considerations outside the facts and laws of the case.
“This is further buttressed by the fact that the book containing the alleged defamatory statements was authored and published in Lagos where the defendant resides and was abducted and at which airport the petitioner claimed a copy was obtained.
“As contained in the charge the only ridiculous reason for shopping for Ado-Ekiti as the forum of arraignment is that the book titled ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System’ was received and read all over the world including Ado-Ekiti. The only inference that could be drawn from this is that there is no territorial limit for the trial of the alleged offence, which is laughable.
“It is ironical that the judiciary which act is apparently the subject of Farotimi’s book and trial, may by this insensitive indiscretion also be putting itself on trial before the world either for incompetence or apparent undue influence.”
The OPC, said the controversy generated by the recent arrest and detention of the rights activist has become a matter of concern for well-meaning Nigerians, restating the need for justice, even as it raised concern over the unlawful detention of the activist.
According to OPC: “We are concerned that two illustrious sons of Yoruba race – a father and elder statesman, Chief Afe Babalola and his ‘son’, who is also a lawyer and rights activist, Dele Farotimi have been engaged in legal battle. “As an organization that is poised to seek justice and fairness, we are concerned that the issue had been generating various reactions from people from all walks of life.
“We are concerned with the manner of arrest and detention and that ordinarily, defamation is not a criminal offence that warrants such manner of arrest and detention. We, therefore, appeal to Chief Babalola to show mercy and understanding in resolving this issue. Chief Afe Babalola has remained the beacon of hope for Nigerians. He is a legal icon and foremost advocate of justice in Nigeria.
“He has impacted his generation in all areas and has been one of the leading legal luminaries that have ever been produced in Nigeria. Chief Babalola had invested so much in the legal profession and also in the education sector. He has produced more than 300 lawyers and a good number of SANs in a profession that lasted more than six decades.
“So, such an icon is undoubtedly one of the most respected legal icons and elder statesman in the country. With all his records of service to humanity both in Nigeria and even beyond, we believe that nobody can destroy the name or tarnish the image of such a globally revered personality.
“That is why the OPC is appealing to Chief Afe Babalola to handle the case of rights activist Dele Farotimi with wisdom and understanding as that is the best way to resolve the lingering issues.”