Former Vice President of Nigeria Atiku Abubakar says the detention of human rights lawyer Dele Farotimi underscores the pervasive climate of impunity and rights violations in the country.
Atiku in a statement Tuesday on X platform, marking International Human Rights Day, stated that Farotimi’s detention is part of a worrying trend of suppressing dissent and using questionable legal tactics to silence opposition voices.
“Dele Farotimi now languishes in prison custody not for any crime but for the supposed ‘crime’ of persistently speaking truth to power.
“His only offense lies in his unflinching commitment to exposing the truths that the government and its collaborators would rather remain hidden,” Atiku stated.
The former vice presidenr also regretted that the lawyer is being prosecuted under a law that does not exist in Ekiti State
He slammed it as a grave injustice and a violation of constitutional rights.
Atiku also raised concerns about the misuse of the cyberbullying law, which he said has been weaponised to target dissenting voices, including those in the opposition and the press.
“The weaponization of the cyberbullying law to harass, intimidate, and silence opposition voices and journalists is alarming. It is a blatant attack on freedom of expression and the principles of democracy,” Atiku said.
He further urged Nigerian leaders at all levels of government to recommit to their constitutional oaths to protect the rights of citizens.
“Let us remind our leaders that the protection and upholding of constitutionally enshrined rights are fundamental to nurturing and strengthening our democracy. This commitment must not waver,” he said.
Recall that presiding magistrate, Abayomi Adeosun had on Tuesday denied Farotimi bail on technocal grounds and adjourned the application of bail to December 20 after the counsel to the police, Samson Osobu claimed that the bail application submitted by the defendant was incompetent and irregular.
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