Contempt: Akwa Ibom Chief Judge, Shuns NBA, Keeps Lawyer In Jail; NBA Faults CJ, Goes On Appeal

By Adesina Soyooye

Over one week after the Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State, the Honourable Justice Ekaette Obot, put a Lawyer in prison for one month for contempt of court, the Lawyer is still in prison as the CJ has shunned the pleas by the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA.

The Lagos-based Lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, had flown to Uyo, capital of the State, to defend his Client, another Lawyer,  Leo Ekpenyong, who was sued for libel by the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel.

Trouble started for Effiong when the CJ ordered a Reporter from the Premium Times to leave the Court. Effiong protested and told the CJ that the case is of public interest, and so sending the Reporter out will not be in the interest of the public. The CJ asked Effiong  to go ahead with cross examination.

Instead of proceeding, Effiong protested the presence of two armed Mobile Policemen in the Court. He said he felt unsafe and uncomfortable with the presence of the Policemen, and asked the CJ to ask them out.

At that juncture, a visibly exasperated CJ asked Effiong to stand down from the Bar, and convicted him to one month imprisonment for contempt of Court at the Uyo Correctional Centre.

In a WhatsApp message sent out just before he was taken to Prison, the Lawyer said he did nothing wrong.

Since then, the NBA has been trying to resolve the matter, to find an amicable solution to it, but the efforts have been in vain. As far as the CJ is concerned, the case is a closed chapter. She said she would not entertain it again.

Disclosing this on Wednesday, the NBA said that it has been unable to secure the release of  Effiong, due to “the Chief Judge indicating that she was unwilling or unable to further entertain the matter.”

Olumide Akpata, National President of the NBA in his  official twitter while giving a brief on the case, so far, said:

“Last week, I provided an update on the efforts being made by the NBA towards securing the release of our colleague, Mr. Inibehe Effiong, who was remanded in custody on the order of the Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State on account of alleged contemptuous conduct in court.

“Unfortunately, attempts to secure Mr. Effiong’s release through sustained engagements at different levels have been unsuccessful with the Chief Judge indicating that she was unwilling or unable to further entertain the matter.

“In the circumstance, the NBA is left with no choice but to work on an appeal against the decision of Her Lordship, and I have instructed the NBA team to work with Mr. Effiong on an immediate appeal.

“This is not the outcome we had expected because there is a high chance that Mr. Effiong would serve out his one-month custodial term before the end of the appeal.

“Regardless of the conduct of Mr. Effiong in the courtroom on the date of the proceedings that led to his committal, one thing that has come out from the various accounts that the NBA has so far received is that the Court did not follow due process in the committal proceedings.

“Mr. Effiong was not put in the dock, told what his wrong or contempt was, given fair hearing or even an opportunity to recant or purge himself (a courtesy that the Bench should, at the minimum, extend to Counsel where Counsel’s  conduct is said to be contemptuous).

“This, on its face not only runs afoul of known practice and procedure in such cases but is also unconstitutional. In view of the foregoing and depending on the outcome of our ongoing investigations, the NBA may be forced to take this matter up with the National Judicial Council”.