The police on Friday slammed fresh counts of criminal defamation against activist Dele Farotimi, accusing him of holding a press conference online in which he detailed a budding plot to arrest him.
The police said the December 2, 2024, press briefing on YouTube constituted an attempt to bully and defame Afe Babalola, a nonagenarian lawyer on whose behest Mr Farotimi was arrested on Tuesday and remanded in prison following an initial arrangement Wednesday.
The charges marked the latest escalation in an already fraught case that has fuelled division within legal circles across the country and appeared to show Mr Babalola was unwilling to backpedalled on a turn that many saw as potentially damaging to his legacy, especially for its brazen assault on free speech.
Mr Farotimi had used the press conference to detail how Mr Babalola was coming after him over his book that hit stores in July 2024, in which he narrated how Mr Babalola, a senior lawyer of immense political and business influence, perfected the art of judicial banditry that spanned decades.
Mr Babalola denied all allegations of bribing judges to procure favourable judgements, as well as all charges of corruption against his person or establishments.
But his decision to involve the police, who have a history of being used by the powerful against everyday citizens, often after financial or material inducement, was what elicited the most scorn from Nigerians, who saw the 95-year-old’s action as barbaric and promptly intensified pressure at home and abroad to get him to back down on his pursuit of Mr Farotimi.
Mr Farotimi was arrested in Lagos on Tuesday and transported to Ekiti hours later. The police unveiled 16 counts of criminal defamation against him before a judge on Wednesday, and the matter was adjourned for a bail hearing on December 6.
On Friday, court documents were received from the police in which they levelled 13 fresh charges against Mr Farotimi, accusing him, among others, of disparaging Mr Babalola during an appearance on a podcast by journalist Seun Okinbaloye and on his own YouTube channel.
The criminal complaint, marked FHC/AD/CR/104/2024, was addressed to Mr Farotimi, but it was unclear whether or not he had been served as of Friday afternoon.
