Police Contradicts Self  over Arrest of Human Rights Lawyer Dele Farotimi

The Nigerian Police has reportedly arrested human rights lawyer, Dele Farotimi over a defamation petition by the Chairman of the United Bank for Africa Group, Tony Elumelu.

Farotimi’s arrest was made known in a post shared on X by the 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, on Tuesday.

In the post, Sowore called for the immediate release of the Lawyer, emphasizing that the police should not be used to settle personal disputes.

Sowore wrote, “I just learned that Dele Farotimi was arrested by the Nigerian Police over a petition by Tony Elumelu of UBA Group alleging Dele defamed him.’

“It is pertinent that the Nigerian police are notified that the institution cannot continue to be used to settle personal scores, and we, the citizens of Nigeria, would no longer tolerate such a situation.

“Therefore, the police at Zone 2 in Lagos are advised to release Barrister Dele Farotimi immediately.”

Meanwhile,  the police spokesperson at the Zone 2 Command, SP Ummar Ayuba, refuted the arrest claim.

She simply said, “We did not make any arrest. He is not in our custody.”

According to PUNCH ONLINE report, Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, Mr Adeniran Akinwale, confirmed that the lawyer was arrested for various alleged offences.

Akinwale said the offences committed included “defamation of character, cyberstalking, and other things. But those two are fully established.

“That was why we have been looking for him before we were able to arrest him.

“We are investigating him. If the suspect is arrested, we will bring him for investigation. We will conduct our investigation and will be able to know his level of culpability or otherwise.”