Alleged Defamation: Farotimi threatens lawsuit over his arrest, detention
Alleged Defamation: Farotimi Threatens To Lawsuit Over His Arrest, Detention
Human rights lawyer Dele Farotimi has threatened to sue those behind his arrest and detention over the halted defamation case between him and legal luminary Afe Babalola (SAN).
Speaking on Channels TV Politics on Sunday, Farotimi explained that some people would account for his incarceration adding “Let me continue to reassert that I was always at peace. But when it comes to demanding an account of those who have perverted the powers of the state in pursuit of a private cause, you can be certain of one thing: some people will account for my incarceration, but that is not a matter for banter. That is something for the courts to decide”.
“ So even though the criminal suit has been withdrawn, the civil suits are there, and what I would like to do in response to my incarceration is another ball game entirely, but you can take it to the bank: I will certainly be demanding an account from those who sent me to prison,” he said.
When asked who he is suing over his detention, Farotimi said, “My lawyers will decide who is responsible, and they will then proceed to the court.
“Whether it’s the police that I have to be sued, whether it’s the magistrate who sent me to prison, whether it’s the persons who wrote the petition, whether it’s whoever, but somebody would explain,” the activist said during the programme.
Police authorities had in December arrested Farotimi in Lagos and whisked him to Ekiti, where he was charged with defaming Afe Babalola in his book ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’.
An Ekiti Magistrate court remanded him for 21 days, but Babalola later withdrew the case, ending several weeks of legal tussle.
