Weeks after he was remanded in a correctional centre, human rights lawyer, Dele Farotimi, was, on Friday, granted a N30 million bail by a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
Chief Magistrate Abayomi Adeosun, who adjourned until February 13, 2025, asked Farotimi to provide three sureties with a landed property within the jurisdiction.
Aside that, he was ordered to refrain from media interviews and to submit his international passport.
Farotimi arrived on the Magistrate Court premises around 9:45 am on Friday.
He was conveyed to the court premises in a prison’s van with a police escort. He alighted and raised his hands in appreciation of a cheering crowd outside the court.
During the court proceedings, Farotimi pleaded not guilty to the 14-count charge preferred against him by the police.
His counsel, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, had filed a preliminary objection asking the court to strike out the charge.
According to him, the charge before the court was unknown to law, and the offence of defamation was not recognised under the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021.
Farotimi is being prosecuted for allegedly defaming a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Afe Babalola.