Glendora Bookshop removes Farotimi’s ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’ book from shelves, cites court order

The Managing Director of Glendora Bookshop Ikeja, Lagos State, has reportedly instructed the withdrawal of all the copies of “Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System” book written by human rights lawyer, Dele Farotimi, from its bookshelves across its stores nationwide, SaharaReporters has learnt.

The staff said the directive was in compliance with an order of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which issued an injunction restraining further production and distribution of “Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System”, the book written by human rights lawyer, Dele Farotimi.

The order is over the alleged defamation content in the book against legal luminary, Afe Babalola, SAN.

A staff who spoke to SaharaReporters on Wednesday confirmed the directive, adding “the owner of the Glendora Bookshop has directed that we should remove the book from the shelves immediately and return to the publishers. As we speak all the copies of the book have been removed from our shelves. In short we don’t have any copy left in our store now.”

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.

SaharaReporters had reported that armed police officers arrested Farotimi at his office in Lagos State on 3 December, and took him to Ekiti, more than 300km.

On the following day he was arraigned before a Magistrate Court in Ado-Ekiti for alleged criminal defamation of legal luminary, Afe Babalola, SAN, in the book, “Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System”.

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.

However, the court order was requested and obtained by Afe Babalola, and demands that all sales and distribution of the book, both physical and digital copies, be stopped immediately.

In the suit No. CV/5372/24 filed before the court by Kehinde Ogunwumiju, SAN, the Head of Afe Babalola’s law firm, and dated December 6, 2024, the Plaintiff also sought a directive to seize any royalties generated from the book’s sales.

The court granted an interlocutory injunction restraining Farotimi and all affiliated parties from further distributing the book.