The Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State, Justice Ekaette Obot has ordered Inibehe Effiong, a lawyer and human rights activist be remanded in prison for one month.
The lawyer is defending Leo Ekpenyong in the libel suit filed against him by Governor Udom Emmanuel.
“The Chief Judge of Akwa Akwa Ibom ordered a Premium Times reporter to leave the court. I said my lord, we were thinking that since the proceeding is public, that members of the public should be allowed to observe the proceeding. My Lord asked me to proceed with cross-examination,” Effiong said while exp3 what led to his imprisonment.
“I obeyed. I informed the court that I was not feeling comfortable and safe having two armed mobile policemen seated inside the courtroom, that it was strange and that I felt unsafe. I applied for the judge to excuse the armed policemen from the courtroom.
“The Hon. Chief Judge then ordered me to step out of the Bar, that she was sending me to prison. She then ordered the policemen to take me to Uyo prison. And that I should be in jail for one month. I am waiting inside the courtroom for them to bring the conviction warrant.
“I will be going to the Uyo Correctional Centre now. I have not done anything. I wasn’t even given the opportunity to say anything before the “conviction”. Two lawyers in the court appealed to the Hon. Chief Judge but my Lord insisted that I must be jailed”.
Meanwhile, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has demanded the Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel to immediately and unconditionally release Effiong.
SERAP in a statement on Wednesday said “We’ll see in court if Effiong is not immediately released. Sending a lawyer to prison simply for representing his client in court is a blatant violation of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and the country’s international human rights obligations, including under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“Lawyers should never be arrested or detained for representing their clients in court or identifying with their clients’ causes, not even when handling a libel case instituted by a state governor,” it said.
