Afe Babalola, Nigeria’s senior attorney (SAN), has announced that he will abandon the defamation complaint against Dele Farotimi, a human rights advocate.
In December, Farotimi was apprehended in Lagos and taken to Ekiti.
The Ekiti state magistrate court in Ado-Ekiti remanded Farotimi for 21 days after accusing him of “criminally defaming” Babalola in the book ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System’.
On December 24, he was released from custody after the court awarded him N30 million in bail.
According to NAN, Babalola, who spoke at Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) after the intervention of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and other first-class traditional rulers at a midnight meeting, has consented to withdraw the complaint.
He stated that he had received multiple letters and phone calls on the subject from prominent Nigerians, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Bishop Matthew Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese.
Babalola stated that he agreed to the traditional rulers’ demands because he had nothing to gain from Farotimi’s detention.
The senior advocate informed the chiefs that he would have his lawyers abandon the lawsuit.
According to Ogunwusi, Yoruba leaders and traditional institutions have been closely following the developments.
The monarch went on to say that he and others had decided to intervene so that Babalola “can pardon his son, Farotimi”.
The Ooni of Ife also praised Babalola for his sincerity and urged him to persevere.