Nollywood actor cum politician, Kenneth Okonkwo, has opined that the arrest and detention of Human rights lawyer cum activist, Dele Farotimi, has continued to expose the level of incompetence and corruption in the country’s security and law enforcement agencies.
News360 Info reports that the Nigeria Police Force apprehended Farotimi over an allegation of defamation on Tuesday.
In a post via X on Friday, Okonkwo stated that the Supreme Court has clarified it is wrong to begin an investigation after arrest.
The movie star faulted the Police over the arrest, insisting that everyone that Farotimi defamed ought to have sought redress in a law court.
He also called for the immediate release of Dele Farotimi, and an investigation should be made into those defamed in the controversial book.
He wrote, “The news of the unjust arrest and detention of Dele Farotimi continues to expose the level of incompetence and corruption of our security and law enforcement agencies. The Commissioner of Police was quoted as saying “We are investigating him. If the suspect is arrested, we will bring him for investigation. We will conduct our investigation and will be able to know his level of culpability or otherwise.”
“The Supreme Court has made it clear that you do not arrest a person and start running around for investigation. The mere act of arrest should indicate that investigation has been concluded.
“It’s also pertinent to note that the central issue in defamation is the allegation of improriety levelled against another person, which the person is claiming not to be true and that it has affected his reputation. In this instance, Dele Farotimi is deemed to be the person making the allegations against another person on issues bordering on the impropriety of the person. If the Police believe erroneously that the procedure is “arrest first before investigation”, the right thing they ought to have done was to arrest those people whom Dele has made the allegations against, arraign them in court, get a court order, and detain them in jail pending the conclusion of their investigation which they must make public. It’s only when they find that Dele made any untrue statement that the cause of action to move against him will arise.
“The most preferred procedure would have been to allow whoever is claiming that his name was defamed to seek redress in a law court where both parties will be granted fair hearing to determine the culpability of either party and reasonable orders will be issued by the court to compensate the offended party.
“Arresting Dele and using the imprimatur of the courts to aid the disrespect for the dignity of his person as a lawyer and Minister in the temple of justice is deplorable and unacceptable. President Tinubu’s regime has always displayed complete disregard for the fundamental human rights of Nigerians and uses all instruments of coercion to intimidate and harass political opponents.
“Dele Farotimi must be released immediately and unconditionally until the Police complete their investigations, which must include the investigation of all the allegations Dele made against all the persons in his book, and the result of the investigations must be made public. I am at a loss why anybody in Nigeria will still be in doubt that Nigeria has a systemic corruption problem in which those in power collude with those outside power to defraud the Nigeria nation. People like Dele and other courageous whistle blowers should be commended with national honours and not committed to prison. It’s a shame that in Nigeria, people who should be in prison are in the presidency, while people who should be in the presidency are in prison.”
