The Nigeria Police Force has arrested Dele Farotimi, a human rights lawyer.

On Tuesday, Omoyele Sowore, a 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) and a good governance advocate, announced Farotimi’s arrest on X.

“I just learned that Dele Farotimi was arrested by the Nigerian Police over a petition by Tony Elumelu of UBA Group alleging Dele defamed him. It is pertinent that the Nigerian police are notified that the institution cannot continue to be used to settle personal scores, and we, the citizens of Nigeria, would no longer tolerate such a situation. Therefore, the police at Zone 2 in Lagos are advised to release Barrister Dele Farotimi immediately,” Sowore stated.

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Farotimi is a well-known critic of government officials who usually argues from the citizens’ welfare standpoint.

Farotimi previously disclosed to journalists that the police were trying to abduct him in November, days after he got an invitation letter from the Zone 2 Police Command in Lagos on November 11.

The police had asked him to report to the station on November 13. Farotimi said the police showed him a petition accusing him of defamation when he arrived at the station. The petition was written by a lawyer on behalf of Elumelu, the Chairman of UBA Group.

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The police have previously detained lawyers and journalists under less ideal circumstances and against the law.

Policemen abducted FIJ’s Daniel Ojukwu in May and kept him detained for ten days. Sustained media pressure and public outrage forced the police to eventually release the journalist.

Some policemen unlawfully arrested and detained Ben-Kingsley Nwashara, a single father who had left his little daughter at home, in Enugu in December 2023. They threatened him with assault in a cell. Nwashara only got out when word of his unlawful detention became public knowledge.

There are growing concerns about the tendency of Nigerian security outfits to weaponise arbitrary arrests against journalists and critics in the country.