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A magistrates’ court sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, on Friday granted embattled lawyer and human rights activist Dele Farotimi, bail in the sum of N30 million.
Magistrate Abayomi Adeosun ruled in favour of Farotimi’s bail request, adding that he must provide two responsible sureties.
Furthermore, Farotimi, who was barred from granting media interviews during the pendency of the case, is to surrender his international passport to the court.
The Ekiti State Police Command had arrested the activist in Lagos and arraigned him in Ekiti, following a petition from legal luminary, Afe Babalola, SAN, alleging criminal defamation against him in Farotimi’s recently-released book on the rot in the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria.
Farotimi was brought to the Ekiti Magistrate Court in a prison’s van amid heavy security, comprising policemen and other law enforcement agents.
He alighted from the van, raising his clenched fist in appreciation of a cheering throng of supporters outside the court.
Magistrate Adeosun had during the last sitting reserved ruling on the bail application till December 20 and ordered the remand of the activist in prison.
His counsel, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, had filed a preliminary objection asking the court to strike out the charge.
He contended that the charge before the court was neither known to law nor was the offence of defamation recognised under the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021.
Farotimi, who was charged for 16 counts of criminal defamation, following the publication of his book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System had been remanded in prison custody since December 7, 2024.
His arrest and trial have attracted condemnation from the public who saw his ordeal as persecution and demanded his unconditional release.
