The Federal High Court Abuja has issued an order halting the production and distribution of ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’, a book by incarcerated human rights lawyer Dele Farotimi.
Sections of the book recently ranked as a global bestseller in the politics category on Amazon has been tagged defamatory by legal luminary Afe Babalola, who approached the court and demanded halt in the sales and distribution of the book’s physical and digital copies. It also included a directive to seize royalties generated from its sales.
Filed under suit number CV/5372/24 by Kehinde Ogunwumiju, SAN, the Head of Afe Babalola’s law firm, the application was dated December 6, 2024. The court granted an interlocutory injunction restraining Farotimi and all affiliated parties from further distributing the book.
The injunction read, “An order of interlocutory injunction restraining the defendant/respondent, whether acting by himself, his staff, employees, servants, privies, representatives, agents, publishers, distributors, sellers, re-publishers, re-sellers, or any other person however described including Amazon Online Bookstore, Rovingheights Bookstore, Booksellers Bookstore, Jazzhole Lagos Bookstore, Glendora Bookshop, Quintessence Lagos Bookstore and Patabah Books Limited from further publishing, selling, circulating, advertising, or distributing the physical/hard/digital/soft copies of the book authored by the defendant/respondent titled: ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’, online.
“An order of interlocutory injunction directing the seizure of all physical copies of the book authored by the defendant/respondent titled, ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’n wherever they may be.”
Specifically, the book accused Babalola of manipulating the judiciary to secure favourable rulings for his clients. The allegations have not only attracted significant public interest but have also put the veteran legal icon in the spotlight.
Be the first to comment