Dele Farotimi meets bail conditions, regains freedom from “Afe Babalola-instigated imprisonment”
By OUR REPORTER, South West Region
He refused to explain why but said “Dele Farotimi is now the hero as he has emerged the first pro-democracy advocacy victim of the Tinubu’s Administration that we do not know to be a dictatorship one but looks more like it.”
After three weeks of his arrest and jailing by court over an allegation of defamation by elderly lawyer and university professor, Chief Afe Babalola, Lawyer, Human Rights Activist and Author, Mr. Dele Farotimi, has finally been let off the hook of imprisonment in Ekiti State, South West Nigeria.
Farotimi, a generally acknowledged fantastic transparency, accountability and good governance advocate, was released from the Nigeria Correctional Center in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital, on Tuesday after meeting his bail conditions.
This came barely five days after being granted bail by the Magistrate Court in relation to an alleged defamation suit filed against him following his being accused in a 14-count charge of defaming the renowned lawyer and founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), in his book titled, “Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System”, where he alleged that Babalola corrupted the Supreme Court to procure a fraudulent judgment in the service of his clients.
The police also arraigned him before the Federal High Court on a separate case involving cybercrime charges.
This global online newspaper gathered that Farotimi left the prison custody Tuesday morning after meeting the bail conditions set by both the Federal High Court and the Magistrate Court.
A source said, “Yes, the rights activist has just been released this morning (Tuesday) after meeting the bail conditions from the Federal High Court and the Ekiti State Magistrate Court. He is currently on his way to Lagos and will reunite with his family today. As you are aware, the next adjournment is January 29, 2025, at the Federal High Court and February 15, 2025, at the Magistrate Court.”
When asked about the next steps for the Lagos-based rights activist, the source said, “The next steps will be revealed during the next adjournment date, but what I need to tell you now is that the Lagos-based lawyer has been released from prison.”
An activists community source, who simply called himself activist lawyer, told our reporter in Ado-Ekiti that “what has happened is that Mr. Dele Farotimi has just been released from Afe Babalola-instigated imprisonment”.
He refused to explain why but said “Dele Farotimi is now the hero as he has emerged the first pro-democracy advocacy victim of the Tinubu’s Administration that we do not know to be a dictatorship one but looks more like it.”
During the resumption of the case hearing last Friday, the presiding Magistrate, Abayomi Adeosun, granted bail to Farotimi.
Adeosun, in his ruling, stated that the suspect could not remain in prison custody. He therefore granted the defendant bail with a N30 million bond and two sureties. He added that one of the sureties must reside in Ado-Ekiti and must provide a landed property within the jurisdiction of the magisterial district, along with the relevant property documents.
The court also ordered that the defendant submit his international passport and restricted him from granting press interviews through any media platform, whether print or electronic.
