A former vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, has called for immediate and unconditional release of Dele Farotimi, a lawyer and human rights activist.

A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, had disclosed that Mr Farotimi was, on Tuesday, arrested in Lagos for alleged criminal libel.

Mr Abubakar, in a statement he personally issued on Wednesday in Abuja, condemned Mr Farotimi’s arrest, describing it as unacceptable.

“I am made aware that Farotimi is being accused of defamation — an offence that, under normal circumstances, should not warrant the involvement of law enforcement agents.

“The police’s intervention in such matters is nothing less than the use of a sledgehammer to swat a fly, an overreach of unimaginable proportions,’’ he said.

Mr Abubakar described the arrest as a calculated agenda to suffocate the fundamental right to free expression, a direct contradiction to the principles of democracy.

“The aim is clear: to intimidate and harass citizens, particularly those who oppose the regime and the press, thus paving the way for the establishment of a one-party state,’’ he stated.

According to the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), freedom of speech and association were not privileges but constitutionally-enshrined rights.

Mr Abubakar said that if anyone felt wronged by defamatory words, the person should feel free to seek redress in the courts, not in the hands of the state’s enforcers.

“It is an appalling abuse of power to use the police as a tool for personal vendettas.

“In 2019, I was defamed; I did not involve the police to flex muscles and intimidate the defaming citizen, but I took the case to court where I am currently seeking reliefs for the injuries to my name and integrity.

“ Therefore, I call for the immediate and unconditional release of Farotimi,’’  Mr Abubakar said.

(NAN)