Afe Babalola has gotten a court order to stop distribution of and production of the Amazon bestseller book titled, “Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System” authored by embattled lawyer Dele Farotimi.
This comes after a Federal High Court in Abuja issued an order to halt the distribution of the book following an application from Afe Babalola through his chambers.
The court, under suit number CV/5372/2024, granted an interlocutory injunction sought by Mr. Babalola’s representative, Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN), on December 6, 2024.
The injunction restricts Farotimi and his agents, including major retailers such as Amazon, Rovingheights, Booksellers, Jazzhole, Glendora, and Patabah Books, from publishing, selling, or distributing both digital and physical copies of the controversial book.
Additionally, the court ordered the immediate seizure of all copies of the book, pending the resolution of the substantive suit.
The injunction follows the global success of Farotimi’s book, which recently topped Amazon’s global politics bestseller list.
The book reportedly sheds light on alleged manipulations of the judiciary by high-profile legal practitioners, including claims against Afe Babalola himself.
Farotimi’s publication, which critiques Nigeria’s judicial system, has sparked significant debate both locally and internationally. Sources indicate that the allegations within the book prompted swift legal action from Babalola’s team. The injunction also seeks to freeze royalties earned from the book’s sales.
The order stated, “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 order of interlocutory injunction also directed the seizure of all physical copies of the book authored by the defendant/respondent titled: “Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System” wherever they may be.’’
The order for the seizure of Mr Farotimi’s book came after it reportedly became number one bestseller in global politics for international tech and retail giant Amazon, on Thursday.
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