Human rights lawyer Dele Farotimi has been arrested over an alleged legal libel, in response to a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Femi Falana.
Falana stated Farotimi was arrested in Lagos State on Tuesday however is demanding for him to be “unconditionally” launched from “unlawful custody”.
“I simply confirmed that Mr. Dele Farotimi was arrested in Lagos at present for alleged legal libel,” he stated in a Tuesday assertion.
“In demanding Mr. Farotimi’s unconditional launch from unlawful custody, I want to state, with none concern of contradiction, that Lagos State is among the many two states in Nigeria which have decriminalised defamation in its entirety.
“In truth, the present state of the regulation was confirmed by the Supreme Court docket of Nigeria within the case of Aviomoh v Commissioner of Police & Anor. (2021) LPELR-55203(SC) when Helen Ogunwumiju JSC held that “Defamation was decriminalised within the Prison Legislation of Lagos in 2011 and Edo State Prison Legislation Invoice 2020.”
However police authorities are but to formally touch upon the matter.
Earlier within the day, Farotimi had alleged that there have been plots to silence him after he obtained a police invite.
“On the station, I used to be offered with a petition written by a lawyer, accusing me of defamation,” he wrote on social media. “Regardless of discovering the petition baseless, I addressed its content material.”
