Renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and founder of Afe Babalola University, Aare Afe Babalola, has disclosed the basis for his defamation claim against human rights lawyer Dele Farotimi, which led to Farotimi’s arrest.
Babalola accused Farotimi of defaming him in his book, Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System, where the author allegedly questioned his integrity and accused his law firm of unethical practices, including judicial corruption. The claims relate to a Supreme Court judgment in a decades-long land dispute.
In a petition dated November 19 and addressed to the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, Adeniran Akinwale, Babalola alleged that Farotimi’s book contained multiple defamatory statements, including accusations of corrupting the judiciary.
The petition stated:
“The said defamatory statements are detailed below:
- That Aare Afe Babalola corrupted the Supreme Court to procure a fraudulent judgment in the service of his client.
- That Aare Afe Babalola, Olu Daramola, Olu Faro, and the law offices of Afe Babalola & Co. (Emmanuel Chambers) compromised the Supreme Court and caused it to engage in acts of corruption and shameful self-abnegation.”
Babalola revealed that his law firm discovered the statements after one of its lawyers purchased and reviewed the book. The petition highlighted that the publication accuses Babalola’s firm of actions that undermine the integrity of Nigeria’s highest court.
The arrest of Dele Farotimi has since sparked debates over the use of police intervention in defamation cases, with calls for resolution through civil litigation rather than criminal proceedings.