Dele Farotimi
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has stated that detained Human Rights lawyer, Dele Farotimi, is being prosecuted under a law that never existed in Ekiti State.
This Nigeria news platform understands that Atiku expressed displeasure over the continuous detention of Farotimi in a statement to commemorate International Human Rights Day on Tuesday.
“More troubling still is that he is detained and prosecuted under the guise of a law that does not even exist in Ekiti State,” Atiku said.
The former vice president criticised the government and it’s ‘collaborators’ for allegedly violating Farotimi’s rights and warned against the growing climate of repression in Nigeria.
He described Farotimi as a lawyer and tireless advocate for human rights, who now languishes in prison custody not for any crime but for the supposed “crime” of persistently speaking truth to power.
Atiku added that Farotimi’s only offence lies in his steadfast commitment to exposing the truths that the government and its collaborators would rather remain hidden.
Farotimi is being tried after a petition was filed by Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) who claimed the lawyer defamed him in his book, titled, ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System.’
The defendant, who was arrested in Lagos and taken to Ekiti for the trial, was granted bail in the sum of N50 million.
Atiku also expressed concern over what he described as the weaponisation of laws, including the cyberbullying law, to intimidate opposition voices and suppress dissent.
“His plight serves as a poignant reflection of the pervasive climate of impunity and the blatant violation of citizens’ rights that has become all too common in Nigeria,” Atiku said.
”Yet, perhaps the most alarming of all is the weaponization of the cyberbullying law, which is being used as a tool to harass, intimidate, and silence dissenting voices in the opposition and the press.”
He urged the government to honour the oaths they have sworn to protect and uphold the constitutionally enshrined rights of the people
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