A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja has ordered the seizure of physical copies of lawyer and activist Dele Farotimi’s book, “Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System”, alleged to contain defamatory content about prominent Nigerian lawyer Afe Babalola.
Judge Peter Kekemeke issued the order on Wednesday, directing the police and other security agencies to seize copies of the book wherever they may be found.
The ruling followed an application by Kehinde Ogunwumiju, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and managing partner at Afe Babalola & Co.
Mr Ogunwumiju is seeking N500 million in damages from Mr Farotimi for allegedly defaming him, the law firm, and its other lawyers in the book.
The book is at the centre of Mr Ogunwumiju’s N500 million civil libel case, as well as two criminal cases alleging defamation against Mr Babalola, his law firm, and its associates ².
Afe Babalola, the founder of Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), filed the petition prompting the police last week to charge Mr Farotimi with criminal defamation at a chief magistrate’s court and cybercrime violations at the Federal High Court, both located in Ado Ekiti.
The judge issued an order of interim injunction directing the Nigerian Police Force, State Security Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSDC) and all other security agencies to seize all physical copies of the book wherever they may be found “worldwide” pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory ¹.
He also temporarily restrained the defendant, Mr Farotimi, publishers, his agents, Amazon Online Bookstore, and other bookstores, “from further publishing, selling, circulating, advertising, or distributing the physical/ hard/ digital/ soft copies of the book” online, electronically, physically or by any other means including social media.
The Explainer learned that RovingHeights Bookstore had immediately complied with the court order by stopping the sale of the book. Following Wednesday’s court order, Afe Babalola & Co. issued warnings via email to bookstores, instructing them to cease selling the book.
The bookstores received the warning on Wednesday with threats that non-compliance with the court order could result in imprisonment, financial penalties, and restrictions on their websites.
The 104-page book accuses the law firm of “compromising the integrity of the Supreme Court,” scheming with “crooked lawyers and incompetent justices,” and “doctoring” a Supreme Court judgement. It also accused Mr Babalola of corrupting the Supreme Court in the service of his clients.
“The words complained of are not only false, but also malicious, reckless and defamatory,” Mr Ogunwumiju’s suit read in part.
Mr Farotimi has denied the charges in both cases. On Tuesday, the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Ado Ekiti adjourned until 20 December to rule on Mr Farotimi’s bail application.
The development came barely 24 hours after the Federal High Court in Ado Ekiti granted him N50 million bail in the cybercrime case.
