By Ameenat Hamzat, Lagos, Nigeria
Dele Farotimi, a renowned Nigerian human right lawyer and activist, has been granted bail of N30 million bya magistrate Court in Ado Ekiti.
At the hearing on Friday, Farotimi’s counsel filed for the bail application and the Magistrate Abayomi Adeosun approved his request.
The magistrate outlined the bail conditions, requiring Farotimi to surrender his intentional passport to court and provide two responsible sureties.
However, he was prohibited from granting media interviews while the case was ongoing.
Recall that Farotimi’s legal troubles began with a defamation complaint brought by Chief Afe Babalola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who claimed that Farotimi had made false allegations in his book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System.
The Lagos State Police Command Farotimi in response to the charges and took him to Ekiti for arraignment.
Farotimi was arrested on 16 counts of criminal defamation, and the Ado-Ekiti magistrate court remanded him in prison custody on December 7, 2024.