Defamation: Police oppose Farotimi’s bail application

The Magistrate Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, has adjourned ruling on the bail application of human rights activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, to December 20, 2024, following opposition by the police prosecutor, Samson Osobu, as moved by Farotimi’s counsel, Taiwo Adedeji.

Farotimi was arrested last Tuesday in Lagos by operatives of the Ekiti State Police Command over allegations of defamation.

He was accused of defaming a 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 judgement in the service of his clients.

He was granted bail on Monday at the Federal High Court on a different suit bordering on cybercrime filed against him by the Inspector General of Police.

However, on Tuesday, police amended the earlier 16-count charge preferred against Farotimi to a 14-count charge, with the defendant pleading not guilty to the new charges.

During the hearing, counsel to the defendant, Adedeji, presented the bail application for Farotimi, urging the court to grant his client bail in liberal terms pending the determination of the matter. He argued that the 56-year-old defendant, as a lawyer with 25 years of practice, would not jump bail, noting that he is a man with a fixed address who would be ready to present himself in court.

Supporting the application with a 13-paragraph affidavit, Adedeji pleaded with the court to discountenance the counter-motion of the prosecutor on Farotimi’s bail.

“We know this is a bailable offence because the defendant has not committed murder or manslaughter, which would warrant him being denied bail. We urge the court to discountenance the opposition to his bail by the prosecutor and grant him bail,” he said.

Opposing the bail application, police prosecutor Samson Osobu argued, through a 16-paragraph affidavit, that the defendant does not have a fixed address and that he has instructed his supporters to intimidate and harass the complainant, Afe Babalola, and his family on social media.

The prosecutor further argued that the defendant is a flight risk who, if granted bail, would escape from the country, thereby suppressing justice in the matter before the court.

He also queried the deposition of the affidavit by a litigation clerk for the defendant, adding that “the danger of using this affidavit is that the court will be relying on hearsay, and on this ground, the application is incompetent and irregular and should be rejected.”

Additionally, the prosecutor earlier opposed the appearance of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, for the defendant, arguing that under the law, a SAN could not take over the suit for the defendant in a Magistrate Court.

He cited a recent judgement of the Court of Appeal in Ibadan, Oyo State, delivered on July 16, 2024, where the court ruled that SANs could not appear before magistrate courts.

In his submission, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, explained that the Ekiti State Magistrate Court Law enacted by the State House of Assembly allows lawyers, irrespective of status and title, to appear in the court, especially in criminal matters like the one against the defendant.

He urged the court to reject the argument of the prosecution lawyer, noting that the judgement cited might not have considered all Magistrate Court laws across the country.

Responding, Chief Magistrate Abayomi Adeosun said that he would step down his ruling on the matter to allow him time to read the judgement cited by the prosecutor.

He ordered the Senior Advocate of Nigeria to step down and allowed the most senior lawyer in the defendant’s team to continue the case, pending his ruling on the matter.

The presiding magistrate, while adjourning the matter till December 20, 2024, to rule on the bail application, ordered that Farotimi be remanded in prison custody.

      READ MORE FROM: NIGERIAN TRIBUNE