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A teary-eyed Dele Farotimi has expressed gratitude to Nigerians who stood by him during his prison ordeal, regardless of his tribe or religion.
The human rights activist made this known in a social media interview, during which he broke down in tears while thanking Nigerians who rallied support for him.
An Ekiti Magistrate court in Ado-Ekiti remanded Farotimi in prison for 21 days after he was accused of “criminally defaming” Afe Babalola, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), in a book titled: ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System’.
However, the court later granted him N30m bail and he gained freedom on December 24 after perfecting his bail conditions.
Speaking in the social media interview, he said “We stopped being humans because we became Nigerians. They divided us and we fell for it. Because you would not see me as a Yoruba man, you spoke for me.
“You would not see me as a Christian, you spoke for me. Because you spoke, Nigeria could not happen to me. You found your voices, I became you and in our collective, we could not be silenced,” he said.
This comes as the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) rejected the request from Emmanuel Chambers, Afe Babalola’s law firm, to disbar Farotimi for alleged unethical conduct.
In the ruling, Chairman of the LPDC Isaq Bello said the allegations pertained to Farotimi’s role as an author and not his practice as a lawyer.