A Magistrate court in Ado-Ekiti has granted human rights activist Dele Farotimi ₦30 million bail.
The court also asked Farotimi to provide three sureties with a landed property within the jurisdiction. He was told to refrain from media interviews and to submit his international passport.
Farotimi, who has been remanded in a correctional centre in Ado Ekiti for over two weeks, arrived at the Magistrate Court premises around 9:45 am on Friday.
He was conveyed to the court premises in a prison van with a police escort, alighting while raising his hands up in appreciation of a cheering crowd outside the court.
The bail comes after the magistrate, Abayomi Adeosun, had at the last sitting, reserved ruling till December 20 on the bail application and ordered that the activist be remanded in prison.
During the court proceedings, Farotimi pleaded not guilty to the 14-count charge preferred against him by the police.
Farotimi is being prosecuted before a chief magistrate’s court in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State for allegedly defaming a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Afe Babalola. The arrest of the activist sparked public criticisms with many Nigerians calling for his immediate release.
The case has been adjourned till 13th February 2025.
