By Cross Udo, Abuja
A human rights activist and former Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mike Igini, has appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to order the immediate release of Dele Farotimi, a legal practitioner.
Farotimi was reportedly arrested on Tuesday by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force over an allegation of defamation.
Reacting to the arrest, Igini, the REC in charge of Akwa Ibom before his tenure expired, advised the police authority to be mindful of the reputational damage such actions as Farotimi’s arrest could wreck on its image.
He noted that the action undermined and destroyed civic trust and caused a loss of public confidence in the integrity of security agencies and their personnel.
The statement read, “The news of the arrest of Barr Dele Farotimi by your men from Ekiti state command over alleged defamation came to Nigerians as a rude shock and, indeed, unbelievable but true.
“I join the overwhelming calls by Nigerians worldwide for his immediate release. The manner of his arrest in Lagos and driven by road to far away Ekiti State has brought back the terrible memories of those years of military dictatorship when citizens were dumped in the trunk or butt of military vehicles and taken to various locations for detention and torture when patriotic and committed Nigerians were fighting for this democracy that is being messed up today by those who didn’t fight for it as well as those who made sacrifices for it at the time the journey of Nigerian democracy was less specific.
“Freedom of expression is a fundamental right guaranteed by our Constitution; it must be respected and preserved in any functional democracy under the rule of law, which is preferable to the rule of men no matter how magnanimous.
“The Nigeria police should not allow itself to be railroaded into taking up fights with citizens on behalf of fellow citizens over actionable civil wrongs that can be remedied in a court of law.
“The police authority should be mindful of the reputational damage actions like this could wreck on its image given that it undermines, if not destroys, civic trust and loss of public confidence in the integrity of security agencies and their personnel.
“If the due process of law to deal with civil wrongs is not followed, the practice of democracy in Nigeria will have no hopeful future.”
