The Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State, Ekaette Obot, has sentenced human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, to one month imprisonment for asking her to recuse herself from the libel suit filed against his colleague, Leo Ekpeyong, by the Akwa Ibom state governor, Udom Emmanuel.
Reports say the Chief Judge allowed armed policemen wielding AK-47 rifles into the courtroom on Wednesday, June 30, and threatened to jail Inibehe Effiong for accusing her of bias and demanding that she recused herself from the case.
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel had sued Ekpeyong for defamation of character over a published piece in which he allegedly accused the governor of “buying judgement” from the 2019 National Assembly Election Tribunal.
Ekpeyong’s lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, filed a notice to the Judge asking for the case to be reassigned to a neutral judge. In an unexpected turn of events, however, the Chief Judge ordered that Effiong be thrown behind bars.
Effiong, in a live video, said, “We were in court this morning and the atmosphere was very hostile. Immediately My lord, the Chief Judge came in, she ordered some armed policemen to come into the courtroom.
“And then the policemen came in; I kept quiet. The proceedings started and then I reminded the court that we had a motion for recusal, asking the Chief Judge to recuse herself from the matter on the grounds of likelihood of bias.”
“And the court said we should go ahead with the trial and while we were at the court, journalists were asked to leave the place and I simply said, ‘My lord, it’s an open court and we are expecting that anyone who wants to observe proceedings should observe it.
“I also said, ‘My lord, I don’t feel comfortable having armed policemen inside the court; that I have never seen armed policemen inside the court; that it made me feel uncomfortable, threatened, and they should be outside.’
“And my lord ordered me to stay out of the bar, ordered me to de-robe, and said she is committing me to prison for one month for raising an observation that policemen should not be in the courtroom. I am waiting for the conviction warrant. I am going to Uyo prison from here. I think it is also an opportunity to see people that are there. DSo, I will see how this goes. I just want everyone to see what has been happening,” he concluded.
