Osamagbe Imadiyi
Human rights advocate and lawyer Mr. Dele Farotimi, who is currently in custody, has claimed that he did not send anyone to enter a plea with Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, the elder statesman who filed a defamation lawsuit against him.
This came as some of the human rights lawyer’s associates who were detained yesterday demanded that he be released, claiming that his rights had been infringed.
Farotimi is presently on trial in Ekiti State after Babalola filed a petition over his book, “Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System.” It is worth noting that Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, recently visited Afe Babalola, reportedly to make a plea on Farotimi’s behalf.
However, Mr. Tope Temokun, a lawyer for Dele Farotimi, said during a prison visit on Friday that Farotimi denied requesting that Peter Obi appeal to Afe Babalola or pursue an out-of-court settlement on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande.
According to Temokun, yesterday afternoon he paid a visit to Mr. Dele Farotimi at a correctional facility in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State. “There is a lack of clarity as a result of the recent events, including the visit of Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate for 2023, to Aare Afe Babalola and his visit to Mr. Dele Farotimi.
“People are unclear about certain things and what is happening. Because of this, I had to go see him yesterday, and we had a fruitful conversation while we were seated together.
“He told me unequivocally that even you, Tope, if you join anybody to believe that I could beg anybody or that I have sent anybody to beg anybody, I will be so disappointed in you,” he said in response to the news that circulated through the town after Peter Obi left Ekiti regarding the conditions for release, the apology, and whether Mr. Dele Farotimi could do this or that to come out.
