Mr Viral
The former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 General Elections, said that criminal defamation is a Northern Nigerian law, noting that though some Southern Nigerian states have criminal defamation, most of them have expunged it from their law books.
Human rights activist and convener of #RevolutionNow Movement, Omoyele Sowore, has noted that human rights lawyer, Dele Farotimi, is being tried in court in Ekiti State for alleged criminal defamation which is a Northern Nigerian law.
Sowore, who said this on Thursday night during X (formerly Twitter) while hosting a Space meeting on the detention and prosecution of Farotimi, re-emphasised that criminal defamation is neither in existence in Ekiti State where Farotimi is being detained and prosecuted nor in Lagos state where he was abducted by police officers.
The former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 General Elections, said that criminal defamation is a Northern Nigerian law, noting that though some Southern Nigerian states have criminal defamation, most of them have expunged it from their law books.
Sowore said, “Dele is definitely not the first person they have tried this with. They have been trying it forever. Sedition was removed from the Nigerian Law book but they always figured out how to bring it back.
“There have been a lot of arrests that involve what they call criminal defamation, which is a Northern Nigerian law. Some Southern states have it but most of them have expunged it from their books.”
He noted that even civil litigation on libel is meant to shut down people, stressing that criminal libel and even civil litigation on libel are basically targeted at shutting down activists from challenging the excesses of the government and those in power.
Sowore called on Nigerians to rise up against any form of clamp down on dissent voices by the Nigerian government and those who believe they can use the judiciary and the police to silence dissent voices in the country.
SaharaReporters recently reported that the Magistrate Court in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, had reserved its ruling and adjourned the bail application of Farotimi to Friday, December 20, 2024.
The ruling means Farotimi despite the growing public outcry will remain in custody for another 10 days, prolonging his wait for justice and freedom.
Farotimi last Tuesday pleaded not guilty to 14 charges levelled against him at the Ekiti State Magistrate Court.
The charges, which were initially 16, were amended and reduced to 14 by the prosecution before being served to the defendant.
The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) took the lawyer to court on Tuesday morning without handcuffs, after facing a backlash on Monday at the Federal High Court.
SaharaReporters also reported that Farotimi submitted a preliminary objection, urging the Ado Ekiti Magistrate Court in Ekiti State to dismiss the defamation suit filed against him by Afe Babalola (SAN).
There have been consistent calls for release of Farotimi across the country.
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