Lawyer and activist, Dele Farotimi, has said he would not comment on the decision of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Afe Babalola, to end the criminal defamation and cybercrimes cases against him.
The Nigerian police instituted the charges against Mr Farotimi at Mr Babalola’s instance last year.
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Mr Babalola said on Sunday that he succumbed to the pleas to have the cases withdrawn following the intervention of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and some other traditional rulers pleading with him to forgive Mr Farotimi.
Mr Farotimi, 57, was not present at the meeting at Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, on Sunday, where Mr Babalola granted him unconditional forgiveness.
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However, ever since the news of the forgiveness came to the fore on Monday, Mr Farotimi, usually outspoken, has kept mute and has not spoken about it on his social media handles or YouTube page, where he provided updates about the case with Mr Babalola in the past..
His only Facebook post since the development is a cryptic message shared on Tuesday, offering no clear indication of the possible real-life situation he was referring to.
“The good hunting dog is never distracted by the rustling of squirrels in the underbrush..🇳🇬😊,” the post read.
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‘No comment’
PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mr Farotimi via a Whatsapp message on Tuesday and his response confirmed that he has been deliberately silent on the report of the forgiveness granted him by Mr Babalola.
“I have no comment on the news,” Mr Farotimi said, in a response to our reporter’s request for comments.
Feyisayo Olatunde, Mr Farotimi’s personal assistant, earlier confirmed his principal’s stance when reaching him through telephone was proving difficult.
“He has no plans of holding a press conference on the subject and he is currently not available for interviews,” Mr Olatunde said.
Back story
Mr Farotimi was charged after Mr Babalola, a nonagenarian, petitioned the police, accusing Mr Farotimi of defaming him in his book, ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System.’
Mr Babalola cited in his petition 31 excerpts from the book, which he alleged defamed him.
In the Amazon best-seller book, Mr Farotimi accuses Mr Babalola, the founder of the Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti, of corrupting Nigeria’s Supreme Court in service of his clients.
Subsequently, the police arrested and charged him with 16 counts of criminal defamation, leading to his arraignment before the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Ado Ekiti. In addition, he faced 12 counts of cybercrimes at the Federal High Court in Ado Ekiti.
Mr Farotimi, who pleaded not guilty to all charges in both courts, was remanded in prison in Ado-Ekiti following his arraignment.
He was released in December after meeting the bail conditions granted him.
In addition to the criminal cases, two lawyers from Mr Babalola’s firm, Kehinde Ogunwumiju, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and Ola Faro have sued Mr Farotimi for N500 million and N600 million, respectively
The FCT High Court also ordered the seizure of physical copies of the book wherever it might be found.
‘Dele Farotimi forgiven’
The Ooni of Ife led a delegation of traditional rulers on Sunday to Ado Ekiti to appeal to Mr Babalola to forgive Mr Farotimi and withdraw the case against him.
Accepting the traditional rulers’ plea, Mr Babalola said he would instruct his lawyers to withdraw the criminal charges against Mr Farotimi with immediate effect, because of the honour for the Ooni and the other Obas.
“Today is a very important day for me, I’m a Yoruba man and I’m very proud to be one. Ewi of Ado has come here to meet me on this matter, former president Obasanjo has intervened, same with Bishop Matthew Kukah and a host of other prominent Nigerians to ask for the exact thing you have come to ask for this evening., my answer to them has been “NO” but today my answer is ‘YES’
“Your coming is unquantifiable in terms of money, who am I? When the colonialists came here in 17th century or thereabouts, they found as a fact that Yoruba land was a highly organised society with an advanced systems of government with each town headed by an Oba who was regarded as a replica of God on earth. His words were commands.
“In the Middle Ages, the Greeks had a saying the meadow that grows on the bank of a river which obeys the direction of the flood remains strong forever but the meadow that grows that disobeys the direction of the flood were broken asunder”.
Mr Babalola concluded his response with an adage in Yoruba saying, ” Eni ti o ba nI nkan lati se, kii wo elegan rara” meaning “those who change the world for the better do not wait to respond to criticism.”
He said he listened to the Ooni’s advice and he certainly did nott want to be a meadow by the riverside which disobeys the flood.
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