By John Ogunsemore
A nationwide protest is looming over the arrest and detention of human rights activist, Dele Farotimi.
Omoyele Sowore announced the “Nationwide/Global Protest Against the Nigerian Judiciary” via X on Wednesday night.
Sowore, who was the presidential candidate of the African Action Alliance (AAC) in 2023, said the protest would commence on Tuesday, December 10.
Sharing a photo of Farotimi, Sowore said “Nigerians refuse to be silenced”.
He added that the protests would hold at Afe Babalola Chambers in Lagos, Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja, Police Headquarters, Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti State, and Kings’ College Campus, London in the United Kingdom.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” Sowore said.
Farotimi was on Wednesday remanded in prison custody until December 10 by a magistrate court in Ekiti State.
This was after policemen attached to the Ekiti State Police Command arrested him in his office in Lagos and whisked him away to Ekiti State.
He was subsequently arraigned on a 16-count charge bordering on defamation and threat to public peace, to which the defendant pleaded not guilty.
The police accused Farotimi of “criminally defaming” a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Afe Babalola in a book titled: “Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System”.
Farotimi’s arrest and detention have drawn widespread condemnation from Nigerians and civil society organisations.
The 2023 presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi said the handling of the case “runs foul of every democratic norm that guarantees freedom of expression and innocence until found guilty before a law court”.
He berated the police for arresting and prosecuting the lawyer “at the speed of light” while “struggling with a barrage of crimes all over the place”.