08/08/2026
This photo shows Folake Falana asking Ibrahim Babangida to free her father, Femi Falana.
Femi Falana was arrested and ja!led under Ibrahim Babangida's regime in 1993.
How it happened:
After Babangida annulled the June 12, 1993 presidential election widely acclaimed to have been won by MKO Abiola, Falana and other pro-democracy campaigners in the Campaign for Democracy published the election results and led nationwide prøtests.
Reportedly infur!ated, Babangida ordered their arrēst. Falana was ãrrēsted alongside late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), late Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti and others. They were charged with unlawful assembly and sed!tion, and paraded before a Chief Magistrate Court in Wuse, Abuja.
The court denied them bail and, as a result, they were remanded in Kuje Prisøn under the State Security (Detent!on of Persons) Decree No. 2.
In 2025, Falana described the detentiøn as maliciøus and unjust, and said he was assembling a legal team to sue Babangida. He argued that Babangida's admission in his book that Abiola won the election proves the prøsecutiøn was baseless.
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