A Chief Magistrate Court in Ado-Ekiti has denied bail to activist Dele Farotimi. This is coming a day after he secured a N50 million bail from a Federal High Court over a separate but related charge.
The writer, whose book, ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System’ landed him in trouble, returned on Tuesday morning to the Chief Magistrate who ordered his prison remand last Wednesday.
He is facing 16 counts of criminal defamation filed by the Nigeria Police following a petition by renowned lawyer Afe Babalola, who took offense to the contents of Farotimi’s book.
In the book, Farotimi alleged that Babalola corrupted the Supreme Court’s justices to obtain a favorable judgment, an assertion the nonagenarian jurist has denied and demanded proof from the writer.
His lawyers had insisted the offenses were bailable and that the Magistrate Court had no jurisdiction to entertain such matters.
But the real drama happened outside the Courtroom as supporters of Afe Babalola and Dele Farotimi engaged in a heated war of words which almost turned physically violent until security operatives stepped in.
Farotimi was later whisked away by officials of the Nigeria Correctional Services as the case was adjourned till December 20, 2024.
(Editor: Ken Eseni)
