A Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti, has granted
Human Rights Lawyer and Activist, Dele Farotimi , 30 million bail over alleged 12-count Cybercrime charged against him by the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.
Farotimi was arraigned before the Chief Magistrate court in Ado-Ekiti, over a petition written against him by legal luminary and elder stateman, Aare Afe Babalola, (SAN)on alleged defamation in his book titled, ”Nigeria and Its Criminal Judicial System”
The 105 pages book published by the Human Right Activist and circulated all over the country, accused Afe Babalola of bribing the judiciary and procure judgements for his clients
At the resume hearing of the case on Thursday, the presiding Magistrate Adebayo Adeosun, disagreed with the Prosecutor, Samson Osubu who argued for the court not to grant bail to the defendant as moved by his counsel.
Adeosun in his ruling, said the suspect cannot continue to remain in the prison custody, he therefore granted the defendant bail with N30 million in like sum with two surety.
He added that one of the surety must be residents in Ekiti and must provide a landed property within the jurisdiction of the magisterial district with relevant documents of the property.
The court also ordered that the defendant must submit his international passport to the court and later restricted him from granting interview from the media, either print or electronic, he later adjourned the case till February 13, 2025, for commencement of the hearing.
Meanwhile, the court process was nearly marred by protest staged by some group of youths identified themselves as “Take it back Movement” who staged a peaceful protest outside the court premises shortly after the court proceeding.
The National Coordinator of the group who identified himself as Juwon Sanyaolu, said they were in the court to show solidarity for the suspect who is also a notable member of the group.
He condemned the attitude of the officers of Nigeria Police on what he called the way and manner the suspect was arrested in Lagos and brought to Ekiti State.
The National Coordinator equally paid a glowing tribute to the Magistrate for granting bail to the suspect, promising that he would not jump bail.
Similarly, one of the counsels to Farotimi, Mr Ralph Nwoke, commended the court for granting the defendant bail, adding that the team would do everything possible to perfect the bail conditions towards ensuring his release.
The head of the legal team for Afe Babalola, Mr Owoseni Ajayi, SAN said his team would go back and prepare as the hearing will soon commence.