Human rights organisation, Amnesty International, has condemned the arrest and swift remanding of activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, over defamation petition by Ekiti strongman Afe Babalola.

Amnesty International on Wednesday posted on X a short statement alongside a graphic design with Mr Farotimi’s photo with inscription: “Dele Farotimi, punished for exercising freedom of expression.”

“Dele Farotimi must be immediately and unconditionally released. In custody of Nigeria Police, there is little hope of fair treatment and no transparency. Police Interrogation centres are also notorious locations of possible violations:

“President Bola Tinubu’s government must end this escalating clampdown on dissenting voices and allow everyone in the country to freely exercise their human rights as guaranteed by Nigeria’s constitution and international law,” Amnesty International said.

The human rights organisation’s statement came after an Ekiti Magistrates Court remanded Mr Farotimi in jail within 24 hours upon his arrest by the police over a defamation petition filed by Mr Babalola.

Mr Farotimi was arrested from his office in Lagos on Tuesday and bundled to Ekiti State, where Mr Babalola resides, eliciting widespread criticism amongst Nigerians.

Nigerians criticise Mr Babalola for orchestrating the arrest of Mr Farotimi over defamation, which is not a criminal case.

Before his arrest on Tuesday, Mr Farotimi in a statement had raised the alarm that Mr Babalola would use the police to hound and have him tried in Ekiti, where the legal icon has influence over the judicial system.

Meanwhile, Nigerian lawyers have condemned the arrest.

“The distance from Lagos to Ekiti State is more than 7 hours.There is no airport in Ekiti. That is the horrendous journey that the @PoliceNG is embarking on because of an alleged case of defamation of character.”

“Dele Farotimi wrote about the rot in the Nigerian Criminal Justice System, and he is experiencing it again in real time,” Inibehe Effiong, a lawyer, said on X.

Deji Adeyanju, activist and lawyer, said, “Police kidnapped a lawyer from Lagos & drove him all the way to Ekiti over a defamation issue & you all wonder why Nigeria is cursed. And this petition was done by a sage in the legal profession, our very own Baba Afe Babalola. May we not descend this low in old age. Shame!”