Afe Babalola obtains court order to ban Dele Farotimi’s bestseller, seize royalties
December 11, 2024
By Ayinde Adeleke
A Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an ex-parte order stopping the production and distribution of “Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System”, a book written by human rights lawyer, Dele Farotimi.
The book has been a topic of heated debate due to its allegations of judicial manipulation and recently became a global bestseller in the politics category on Amazon platform.
The court order, requested and obtained by Afe Babalola, demands that all sales and distribution of the book, both physical and digital copies, be stopped immediately.
The Plaintiff also sought a directive to seize any royalties generated from the book’s sales.
The injunction read, “An order of interlocutory injunction restraining the defendant/respondent, whether acting by himself, his staff, employees, servants, privies, representatives, agents, publishers, distributors, sellers, re-publishers, re-sellers, or any other person however described including Amazon Online Bookstore, Rovingheights Bookstore, Booksellers Bookstore, Jazzhole Lagos Bookstore, Glendora Bookshop, Quintessence Lagos Bookstore and Patabah Books Limited from further publishing, selling, circulating, advertising, or distributing the physical/hard/digital/soft copies of the book authored by the defendant/respondent titled: ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’, online.”
The book accused Babalola of manipulating the judiciary to secure favourable rulings for his clients.
The allegations have not only attracted significant public interest but have also put the legal icon in the spotlight with growing condemnation for his use of the police to harass Farotimi.
Meanwhile, distributors have stopped the sale of the book. According to a source, “Our attention has been drawn to an injunction sought against the sale of the book in bookstores sought by a SAN in Abuja in which our Company named was listed. Henceforth we have ceased all sales of the book from our stores.”