IT IS no longer news that ferocious human right lawyer, advocate and public affairs commentator, Dele Farotimi Esq, was arrested and later arraigned by the Nigeria Police Force at the Magistrate Court, Ado-Ekiti before His Worship Abayomi Adeosun. His ferocious behaviour is due to the frustration of the system, anger caused by the system and sense of injustice which can lead to aggressive outbursts.
Even if there is an arrest warrant against Farotimi, the procedure is that the police itinerary from Ekiti State must approach another court in Lagos State before the arrest. It is clear and safe to conclude and state that the police are not an institution that believes in due process of law and will always take side with the oppressor once monetary gain or personal interest is at play.
The Nigeria Police Force, in a gestapo manner and brazen disregard for the rule of law, on the 3rd December 2024 laid a siege to his former office located at Lekki, Lagos State and subsequently arrested him without any prior notice or invitation.
Dele Farotimi was whisked away to Ado-Ekiti and was arraigned the second day on a 16-count charge preferred against him by the Commissioner of Police at the instance of a petition written by Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, OFR, LLD.
The petition is premised on a book written by Dele Farotimi titled; Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System, released in July 2024, which the learned silk finds some chapters and narrative defamatory to his person and personality. While it is not the thrust of my intervention to dabble into the propriety or impropriety of the content of this book since it will be subjudice because it is a case that is pending in court, it is my aim to properly put into context the manner and the way the arrest was conducted and the subsequent arraignment against every civilised norm and ethos.
In a show of courage, Dele Farotimi had anticipated his arrest few days ago when he held a press conference recapitulating his ordeal at the instance of the State structure and one take away from that press conference was that there is an already sealed plot by the Nigeria Police Force in cohort with the judiciary in Ekiti State to see that he is unlawfully put behind bars without due process of law. Suffice to say that Farotimi was right, he was arrested without any invitation or call from the police and taken to far away Ekiti State.
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Now, the point to raise is why did the respected learned silk not submit the petition to the Nigeria Police in Lagos for onward arrest and handing over to them? Another issue that is germane to this intervention is that it is a general knowledge that there is a commissioner of police in Lagos and is under the AIG Zone 2 in Lagos State, but how come was the petition not submitted at the office of the AIG Zone 2 in Lagos State?
Plausibly, the claim by the commissioner of police alleging that there was an already established case against Farotimi before his arrest and arraignment which is a clear case that the police are ignorant of the provision of section 35(4)(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 or that the police are playing the script already written by their paymaster. Even at that, it is a common practice that a person who is accused of any crime based on a petition by another person is given the right to know the details of the petition and respond accordingly.
The arrest of Farotimi is a wake-up call to the conscience of this nation and a reminder that we are edging towards militarist state where dissenting voices are silenced by the powers that be. The thirst of the state power apparatchik to label any dissenting voice as the enemy of the state is nothing short of dictatorship and totalitarianism at its best.
Even if there is an arrest warrant against Farotimi, the procedure is that the police itinerary from Ekiti State must approach another court in Lagos State before the arrest. It is clear and safe to conclude and state that the police are not an institution that believes in due process of law and will always take side with the oppressor once monetary gain or personal interest is at play.
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Recently, we handled a case in Zone 2 Lagos State where police turned themselves to debt recovery agents by forcing our client to transfer money to an account which is not the account of the complainant, but account of the person not known to the complainant at all. In fact, the complainant who brought the case to the police was not even informed that the police were withdrawing money from the account of the accused forcefully.
Correspondingly, in a rather unfortunate end, the respected learned Chief Afe Babalola, SAN has always been a great advocate against the usage of the police or any security agencies to settle personal scores or vendetta by persons of means or the citizens. It is rather a shock that in this case, it is safe to state that Chief Babalola seems to have gone back on his words.
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While the right of Chief Babalola to express outrage against the treatise written by Farotimi is preserved, it is assumed that the civil process would have suffice at this juncture because as the saying goes, the elderly has nothing to lose by being circumspect. The action of the police was a severe disregard for the sanctity of legal practice.
The most unfortunate aspect of this issue is the penchant of the police force to stretch their power above the law. The charge, to start with, is defective and vexatious. In fact, it is bereft of any real and cogent response, and I am sure would be knocked out during trial.
Another fundamental issue I noted in this case is the issue of jurisdiction of Ekiti State court to entertain the charge.
As we await the trial of Farotimi, we should know that no matter the case against him, his voice will not be silent and will only get louder by the day. No matter the trial or forces against him, his voice will get louder as many days as he spent behind bars. The country is at a defining moment and history will be that Farotimi was mad at the things we are afraid to be mad with and he is not a traitor to history and event in Nigeria.
How come Farotimi was not allowed to contact his lawyer and was denied bail for an offense that is bailable at law. Could it not be that the court is readily without a shadow of a doubt playing already made script by the power that be?
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The arrest of Farotimi is a wake-up call to the conscience of this nation and a reminder that we are edging towards militarist state where dissenting voices are silenced by the powers that be. The thirst of the state power apparatchik to label any dissenting voice as the enemy of the state is nothing short of dictatorship and totalitarianism at its best.
It is not far from conclusion that we are not truly practising federalism. What we are practising is nothing more than a militarist cum unitarist state with a façade of federalism. The system on ground is meant to crop up powerful men who are more powerful than the democratic institution of the state. And as Farotimi used to say, ruining class will do everything to maintain this system even to the detriment of the survival of its inhabitants.
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As we await the trial of Farotimi, we should know that no matter the case against him, his voice will not be silent and will only get louder by the day. No matter the trial or forces against him, his voice will get louder as many days as he spent behind bars. The country is at a defining moment and history will be that Farotimi was mad at the things we are afraid to be mad with and he is not a traitor to history and event in Nigeria.
In my opinion and conclusion, Chief Babalola should have pursued civil case instead of using the police to harass Farotimi on the pretence that they are acting on his petition. The old silk should also consider his own reputation considering what the police are doing in his name.
Lawal is a human rights lawyer, Principal Counsel at FritzAbbey Solicitors and Advocates and Convener Legal Defence Against Injustice Initiative, Lagos. He can be contacted via: mudasirulawal0204@yahoo.co.uk
Caveat: Note that this information is provided for general enlightenment purposes and is not intended to be any form of legal advice.
