Nigerian human rights activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, has said he is still considering his legal options despite the withdrawal of criminal charges against him.
Speaking on The Duke Rants podcast over the weekend, Farotimi addressed his recent 21-day incarceration and legal battles, describing his arrest as unlawful.
“If I met Chief Afe Babalola today, like a good Yoruba boy, I’d give him his salutations,” he said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m still considering my options regarding what I went through.”
When pressed on what legal steps he might take, he responded, “All the options available to a person who was unlawfully kidnapped from his office and hauled before a magistrate for a non-existent crime.”
Farotimi highlighted the unusual circumstances of his arrest, alleging that law enforcement violated legal procedures.
“Policemen crossed five state lines—Ekiti to Ondo, to Osun, to Oyo, to Ogun, and then into Lagos. Somebody has to explain the basis of my incarceration for 21 days,” he stated.
Although Afe Babalola withdrew his petition against Farotimi in February, the activist revealed that he still faces four separate lawsuits filed by members of Babalola’s law office across different states.
“My inability to speak on certain aspects of this issue is because, despite the discontinuation of the criminal proceedings, I still have four lawsuits against me in four different states,” he explained.
Farotimi’s legal troubles began after Babalola accused him of defamation over statements in his book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System.
Following his arrest, he was charged with criminal defamation at an Ekiti State Magistrate Court and cyber-bullying at the Federal High Court in Ado Ekiti. However, on January 27, Babalola withdrew the cases after interventions from the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and other traditional rulers.
Farotimi has continued to defend his book, insisting it was based on research and personal experience, rather than falsehoods.
“I did not sit down in a beer parlour; I was not at an officers’ mess; I was not gossiping. I wrote a book. Let us deal with veracity—anybody can read it and challenge me if I have told a lie,” he said.
He also argued that the real issue at stake was the integrity of Nigeria’s legal system, not his personal reputation.
“This is not a trial of Dele Farotimi. Let nobody make that error. It is a trial of the legal system that we have built as a collective,” he asserted.
Farotimi further clarified that his book was not a personal attack on Afe Babalola but a critique of systemic corruption within the judiciary.
“Chief Afe Babalola is more than old enough to be my father,” he said. “I did not set out to destroy the man or tarnish his image. Nothing personal. I was writing about the institution of the judiciary.”