Kenneth Okonkwo, a former spokesman for the Peter Obi/Datti Ahmed Campaign Organization and a lawyer, has strongly condemned the treatment of human rights lawyer Dele Farotimi in his alleged defamation case trial.
Okonkwo argued that the Magistrate Court in Ekiti was wrong to order Farotimi’s remand in the Correctional Center, despite a higher court granting him bail on the same case.
The Nollywood legend also pointed out that handcuffing Farotimi was another illegality in his trial, citing Section 5 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
According to this section, a suspect or defendant should not be handcuffed except in specific circumstances, such as reasonable apprehension of violence or an attempt to escape, or by order of a court.
None of these conditions were met in Farotimi’s case, Okonkwo noted.
Okonkwo further emphasized that Farotimi’s treatment has exposed the flaws in Nigeria’s Criminal Justice System, which he described as “rotten” and “tilting towards criminality”.
Okonkwo’s comments were made in a post on his X handle, where he expressed his concern about the implications of Farotimi’s case for the country’s justice system.
He said: “What is going on now with the bail application and persecution of Dele Farotimi has actually confirmed the veracity of his claims in his book, ‘Nigeria and the Criminal Justice System’.
“Is it not a judicial embarrassment that a Magistrate Court will still remand a person in custody for offences on which a Federal High Court has granted same person bail?
“If we continue like this, time will come when a High Court will overrule the Supreme Court on a matter,” he said.
“Is it not against the law for any person who is already in the custody of the Police or any security agency to be put in handcuffs?
“Section 5 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act states: A suspect or defendant may not be handcuffed, bound or be subjected to restraint except: (a) there is reasonable apprehension of violence or an attempt to escape; (b) the restraint is considered necessary for the safety of the suspect or defendant; or (c) by order of a court.
“None of these conditions was met before Dele Farotimi was handcuffed and this shows how rotten our Criminal Justice System is tilting towards. When criminals are running the CJS, the result is criminality.”
