A book by detained activist lawyer Dele Farotimi has unexpectedly become an Amazon bestseller, climbing to the top of the elections category in less than 24 hours after his arrest.
The independently published book, ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System,’ outperformed notable works including journalist Bob Woodward’s ‘War’ and Hillary Clinton’s ‘Something Lost, Something Gained’ on the bestseller platform.
The Explainer reported Farotimi was arrested in Lagos by policemen from Ekiti State and transported to Ado Ekiti, where an Ekiti State Chief Magistrates Court remanded him in the state’s correctional centre over alleged defamation of character.
The surge in book sales can be attributed to public curiosity, particularly among younger generations who have recently discovered Farotimi’s work. Popular Nigerian bookshop Roving Heights reported its website crashed due to “unusual traffic and a spike in demand for some titles.”
In the controversial book, Farotimi alleged that senior Nigerian advocate Afe Babalola had compromised the Supreme Court, a claim Babalola vehemently denied in a petition to the Ekiti State Police Command.
“To be considered an ‘Amazon bestseller’,” the book must have sold more copies than other books in its category based on recent sales data. Many netizens expressed frustration at being unable to obtain physical or electronic copies of the book.
Chief Magistrate Abayomi Adeosun, after hearing the police prosecutor Samson Osubu’s 16-count allegations, to which Farotimi pleaded not guilty, adjourned the matter until 10 December 2024.
In his detailed petition dated 9 November, Babalola itemized 31 defamatory excerpts from the book, claiming they had aroused anger among right-thinking members of society, particularly within the legal profession.
The book, published on 2 July 2024, experienced low sales until Farotimi’s arrest, which dramatically transformed its market performance and public visibility.
