Dele Farotimi vs Afe Babalola: Bone of contention
•How Dele Farotimi’s book became bestseller amidst defamation saga
Despite the controversy surrounding his arrest and detention, human rights lawyer and activist, Mr. Dele Farotimi has achieved unexpected success with his book ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’, which has become a surprise bestseller on Amazon.
In a twist of fate, Farotimi who is currently remanded in Ekiti prison after his arrest and arraignment following a petition by popular lawyer, Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, has become a celebrity author overnight.
Published in July 2024, ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’ is an examination of the systemic corruption in the nation’s judiciary, with examples of alleged misconduct involving legal luminaries.
The book, which had low sales before Farotimi’s arrest, recorded a rapid increase in demand after Nigerians’ interests were piqued following his subsequent detention.
Ranked 555 among all books on the platform and number one in elections, the publication has also topped categories in general elections, political process, and political commentary, with a 4.9-star customer rating.
On Thursday evening, Farotimi’s book ascended to Amazon’s top rankings.
The development meant a remarkable surge in demand as Nigerians continue their quest in unravelling the controversial contents in Farotimi’s book.
Hours after Farotimi arraignment and remand in prison, Roving Heights, a popular bookstore, reported its website had crashed due to “unusual traffic and a spike in demand for some titles.
Also, some bookstores in Lagos and Abuja, reportedly ran out of stock of the book few days after Farotimi’s detention. Some lawyers told our correspondent that the publisher of the book sold for N5000 has promised to immediately begin reprinting new copies.
Until last week, very little was known about the content of Farotimi’s book. His attempt to promote the book through interviews also failed to inspire interest public interest. All that changed on Monday when Farotimi raised the alarm of plot by the Police arrest him.
True to his allegation, the Police on Monday night whisked Farotimi away from his Lagos office and took him to Ekiti State where he was eventually arraigned for alleged criminal defamation against Chief Afe Babalola.
The bone of contention
One of the main subject matters in Farotimi’s book is a 254 hectares of land at Osapa Eti-Osa Local Government Lagos sold to the late Gbadamosi Bamidele Eletu in 1977 by the Ojomu family.
The said parcel of land was later acquired by Lagos State Government after it was sold to the Gbadamosi Bamidele Eletu by the Ojomu family.
The Ojomu family contested the acquisition against Lagos State Government in Suit No: ID/1883/89 wherein the court set aside the acquisition by the Lagos State Government.
The Ojomu family then instituted the suit at the High Court of Lagos State claiming that title to the land had reverted to the Ojomu family despite the earlier sale of the land to late Gbadamosi Bamidele Eletu.
Chief Afe Babalola represented the Eletu family and Judgement was delivered by the Supreme Court on July 13, 2013 in favour of the Eletu family.
Justice Kumai Bayang in his lead judgment, limited the land of the appellants to 10 hectares (24.17 acres) in respect to Suit no: M/779/93 whose subject matter was part of the 254 hectares owned by the Eletu family.
Chief Babalola claiming that the 24.17 acres granted to his client was an error,
filed a motion for variation of the judgement of the Supreme Court pursuant to Order 8 Rule 16 of the Rules of Court.
The motion was heard and ruling delivered on March 18, 2014 granting statutory right of occupancy to the Appellants in respect to the entire 254 hectares sold to late Gbadamosi Bamidele Eletu by the Respondents.
However, the judgment sparked litigation from estates affected by the ruling, including Pinnock Estate, NICON Estate, and others.
Farotimi amongst other allegations contained in his book, claimed that Chief Babalola employed unethical and corrupt tactics in the case.
Public outcry
Following Farotimi’s arraignment and detention over his alleged defamatory claims against Chief Afe Babalola in his book, many organisations and activists have cried out over the manner, Farotimi was arrested and detained.
The Obidient Movement on Wednesday issued a warning of nationwide protests should Farotimi remain in detention.
The group called for Farotimi’s immediate release, warning that failure to comply would lead to public protests. They also urged the international community to take note of what they described as “a disturbing development” and stand in solidarity with those fighting for justice and human rights in Nigeria.
Joining the fray of condemnations, publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, enjoined Nigerians to join a “nationwide/global protest” against the judiciary scheduled for October 10.
Sowore, in a post on X on Thursday, stated that the protest will begin on December 10 from the Afe Babalola Chambers in Lagos, Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja, Police Headquarters in Ekiti, and Kings’ College Campus in London.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” the post reads.
The Nigerian Bar Association has also expressed grave concern over the arrest of l Farotimi on allegations of libel and reports of an invasion of his law firm in Lagos.
The NBA described the incidents as a serious violation of the rule of law and an attack on the sanctity of the legal profession.
In a statement issued by its President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, the NBA said, “While the Nigerian Police Force has the authority to investigate crimes, this power must be exercised within the confines of the law and in respect of offences recognised under Nigerian law.”
The association stressed that the alleged offence of libel, for which Farotimi was reportedly arrested, is not a criminal offence under Lagos State law.
Chief Babalola fights back criticisms, defends petition
Despite the wide spread criticisms of the Police arraignment of Farotimi, Chief Afe Babalola has stuck to his gun insisting his reputation as a renowned lawyer is at stake.
Speaking through his lawyer, Owoseni Ajayi, Chief Afe Babalola dismissed insinuations that he was using his clout to deal with Farotimi.
Owoseni waved off the rumoured influence in the matter, saying, “We cannot deal with him against the law.”
“That is not naturally possible, otherwise, we would not have reported him to the police for due process to take place. Immediately he was arrested by the police, he was arraigned in court.”
“Why is anybody saying influence was being used on him – don’t they want him to defend himself? All the lies that he published in a book and circulated – is that using influence to ask him to defend himself in the law court?
“Are they saying that somebody who was defamed should accept it like that so that people would not accuse him of using influence? There is nothing like using influence or clout here.
“Farotimi is a lawyer, but he was castigating the Supreme Court, describing it as a haven of corruption without any shred of evidence. If he should be dealt with according to the law, is that using influence?