The defamation lawsuit against human rights attorney and activist Dele Farotimi has been dismissed by the Ekiti State Chief Magistrates Court.
The court’s ruling came after police prosecutor Martins Akala filed an application and moved to have the lawsuit dismissed.
On January 29, 2025, the Federal High Court in Ado-Ekiti dismissed Farotimi’s defamation and cyberbullying allegations after the police requested that the charge be dropped.
On December 4, 2024, the Ekiti State police arraigned Farotimi in the Magistrate Court case after he allegedly defamed legal luminary Afe Babalola in his book, “Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System.”
According to Farotimi’s book, among other things, Afe Babalola bribed the justices of the Supreme Court.
However, on January 27, 2025, Afe Babalola consented to remove the criminal defamation cases against Farotimi from the courtroom when influential traditional leaders, including Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, intervened.
Akala, the police prosecutor, informed the court during Thursday’s hearing that the defamation complaint against Farotimi should be dropped in accordance with orders from the authorities.
The hearing on this case is scheduled for today, he stated. However, I would want to ask the court for permission to drop the defendant’s charge in response to the police authorities’ directive.
“The case was struck out based on the application of the prosecution,” said Kembi Adejare, Farotimi’s attorney, in response to the court’s decision. They took us here and asked us to leave, which we accepted.
“I stated in the open court that they had just taken off the shackles after bringing them and taking them off. Why should we voice our complaints?
