Inibehe Effiong, a human rights attorney, was imprisoned for one month by Justice Ekaette Obot, the chief judge of Akwa Ibom State. She has since been released.
In a message on Facebook on Friday, Effiong proclaimed his liberation and said that his captors couldn’t crush his spirit by imprisoning him.
“I am back, stronger and more determined to confront the forces of oppression and to continue to speak nothing but the hard truth to the faces of the oppressors of our people. I feel sorry for those who thought they can break my spirit by incarcerating me,” he wrote.
On July 27, Justice Obot sentenced Effiong to one month in jail for contempt of court in prima curiae after the attorney allegedly objected to the presence of armed police officers in the courtroom.
According to reports, Effiong was transferred to the Uyo Correctional Center after the judge had condemned the lawyer to the Ikot Ekpene Correctional Center.
Effiong appeared in court to defend Leo Ekpenyong against a libel lawsuit brought by Akwa Ibom Governor Udom Emmanuel.
On August 17, a renowned attorney named Femi Falana (SAN) filed a lawsuit against Justice Obot for allegedly violating Effiong’s fundamental rights.
Falana had also denounced the “horrendous humiliation” Effiong had endured in front of the prisoners.
“Inibehe’s fundamental right to dignity, protected by section 34 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, and Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act Cap A9 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, was violently violated by the brutal torture inflicted on him by the prison guards in Akwa Ibom State.
“It is painful to note that the unprovoked violence unleashed on Inibehe is a sad reminder of the case of Minere Amakiri, then a reporter with Nigerian Observer, the old Bendel State owned newspapers whose head was shaved with a broken bottle in 1973 on the orders of Alfred Diette-Spiff, the then Military governor of the State.
“Apart from challenging the egregious infringement of the fundamental right of Inibehe to the dignity of his person and fair hearing we shall press for the prosecution of the officials who inflicted torture on him contrary to the provision of section 2 of the Anti Torture Act of 2017. The penalty for the offence of inflicting torture on any person in Nigeria is 25 years imprisonment without any option of fine,” Falana had said.
