Mike Oshaloni, a high chief in Ado-Ekiti and the head of Afe Babalola’s family, has warned Nigerians planning to protest the arrest of human rights lawyer Dele Farotimi.
In a video that surfaced online on Saturday morning, Oshaloni made it clear that protesters would be stopped from exercising their rights in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State.
“Farotimi wants to blackmail him (Babalola). He has blackmailed him. He has defamed his character; character assassination (sic). He has bastardised everything that stands on the name of Chief Afe Babalola, and we want to resist it (sic),” said Oshaloni.
“We want to let him know that whether he did it on his own or he is being sponsored (sic), we want him to know that we are ready to confront the thing head-to-head.
“Farotimi and people like Femi Falana and others are professional protesters. For little things, they want to turn the whole world upside down (sic). You see, it is only a bastard who uses his left hand to describe the house of his father.
“There is no way I can (sic)… there is no way (sic)… after all they protested against the president of this country; let them go on. But, for them to come to Ado or Ekiti to say they want to protest, we are waiting for them, honestly speaking; unless the police stops them. We will tell them that this is the root and foundation of Afe Babalola, and we will tell them that they can’t operate. Bet me, they can’t do it (sic). If they do it, they will suffer for it. They will know that they don’t have a monopoly of violence alone. They don’t!
“I am High Chief Mike Oshaloni, the Oloti of Ado-Ekiti, a member of Ewuye Council proper. I am the head of the family of Afe Babalola, his root and foundation.”
Oshaloni went on to voice his opinion on “Freedom of Speech”.
“Freedom of speech is not absolute, I think you agree with that (sic),” Oshaloni said.
“Whatever you say, you must expect consequences for it. So, either he is doing it willingly or being sponsored, whoever is involved, they are going to regret this action.
“I am just coming from the Federal High Court. I accused the lawyer that came to (sic)… I cannot imagine lawyers coming to support Farotimi in the name of doing their job (sic), destroying somebody who is a very senior member of the association, without looking… without waiting to know the basic truth of this matter.
“It is very appalling; very disgraceful.”
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On July 2, Dele Farotimi released a book titled Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System.
Months after the 116-page book was published, Afe Babalola accused Farotimi of defamation.
As a result, on December 2, Farotimi was arrested in a dramatic manner at his Lagos office by a group of policemen from the Ekiti State Police Command and was subsequently taken to Ekiti State.
In addition to the defamation charges filed against Dele Farotimi by Afe Babalola’s team at an Ekiti State Magistrate Court, Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), brought 12 more charges against Farotimi at an Ekiti Federal High Court on December 6.
Meanwhile, an Abuja High Court has ordered security agencies across the country to seize physical copies of Farotimi’s book from all bookstores and stands nationwide.
The court also issued a temporary injunction preventing Farotimi from “further publishing, selling, circulating, advertising, or distributing the physical, hard, digital, or soft copies of the book, either online, electronically, physically, or by any other means.”
Farotimi’s trial has sparked widespread criticism, with many Nigerians calling for protests against what they describe as an “unlawful arrest.”
(FIJ)
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