The Ayo-Adebanjo faction of the Yoruba social cultural organisation has visited detained human rights activist, Dele Farotimi in the Ado Ekiti Correctional Centre.
Farotimi, a member of the national caucus of Afenifere was arrested in Lagos a forth-night ago by the operatives of the Nigerian Police Force, NPF, over a petition written against him by foremost Nigerian lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Chief Afe Babalola.
Babalola and Farotimi are Yoruba from the south west Nigeria.
The senior lawyer had accused the activist of defaming him in his book, Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System, for which Farotimi has now been charged to court.
Since the Lagos-based lawyer was arrested two weeks ago, some well meaning Nigerians, including the 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP Peter Obi have made efforts to wade into the matter.
Farotimi has however insisted that nobody should intervene on his behalf saying the law must be allowed to take its full course.
The magazine however learnt that Afenifere leaders decided to intervene in the matter considering the controversy it has generated, particularly since the protagonists in the issue are ‘brothers’ from the same ethnic religion one source close to the group said on Saturday.
“As leaders in the south west, we can’t allow the issue to drag for too long because the two people involved are brothers. Tongue and mouth can fight, but the beauty is that they must settle their quarrel for peace to reign,” another sources said.
The source stated further that some Afenifere leaders will be sent to “speak with Chief Afebabalola” to see how the “matter can be settled’, adding that the ‘respected lawyer” only want to clear his name from the allegations raised by Farotimi.
Speaking after the visit to Farotimi, the leader of the delegation and the Deputy Secretary General, Alade Rotimi-John,disclosed that the Afenifere leader came to Ado Ekiti at the expense of Pa Adebanjo. The Afenifere scribe said in a statement that Farotimi has not been well-treated following his arrest.
He lamented the decision of the Ekiti Magistrate court to deny him bail, describing the action as ‘miscarriage of Justice’ since the offence is a bailable one.
Other leaders of Afenifere who made the visit include Chief Supo Shonibare, Basorun Segun Sanni, Mrs Nike Olujembola, Mrs Toyin Falade, Pastor Olayemi Olajuyinnu and Mr Tunde Babarinde, among others.”
According Rotimi-John, the group is seriously considering a better way of dealing with the issue, noting that Farotimi should not “have been remanded in the correctional centre in the first place.”
He added,“Afenifere will wait to consider its next line of action after the ruling of the chief magistrate on December 20.”
The Source reports that Babalola has obtained a court injunction from Oyo and Abuja high courts restraining the sale controversial book.
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