According to human rights lawyer Femi Falana, if proven guilty, prison guards at the Uyo Correctional Center who are accused of torturing Inibehe Effiong face a 25-year sentence.
The Akwa Ibom State Chief Judge, Ekaette Obot, controversially condemned Mr. Effiong to one month in prison on July 27 for alleged defiance. The judge’s actions have received widespread condemnation from attorneys and human rights activists.
Mr. Falana stated in a statement that the Chief Judge had violated Nigeria’s Constitution by refusing to order the release of Mr. Effiong from the barbaric treatment he received on Friday. ‘to furnish him (Mr. Effiong) with a certified true copy of her judgment in contravention of section 36(7) of the Constitution which prescribes that every convict is entitled to a copy of the judgment of the court that tried and convicted him.’
Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mr. Falana alleged that Ms. Obot’s sentence for Mr. Effiong had been “secretly varied” to allow the lawyer’s forceful transportation to Uyo Correctional Center. “in handcuffs even though there was no violence on his part.”
‘Inibehe was forced to sit on the bare floor while his head was shaved together with his beard. He was thereafter subjected to more horrendous humiliation and paraded before all prison inmates,’ Mr. Falana divulged in his statement.
He characterised the actions of the prison guards as a violent violation of his (Mr. Effiong’s) fundamental right to dignity guaranteed by section 34 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria…and Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.’
According to Mr. Falana, Mr. Effiong’s mistreatment brought to mind a time when the military government of the former Bendel State, Alfred Diette-Spiff, ordered a journalist named Minere Amakiri to have his head forcefully shaved with a broken bottle.
‘Apart from challenging the egregious infringement of the fundamental right of Inibehe to the dignity of his person and fair hearing,’
In addition to challenging Ms. Obot’s judgment to imprison Mr. Effiong, Mr. Falana suggested, ‘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 offense of inflicting torture on any person in Nigeria is 25 years imprisonment without any option of fine,” he said.’
The Akwa Ibom State Chief Judge’s conduct has been widely criticized by many lawyers and rights advocates.
Mr. Effiong’s appeal against Ms. Obot’s judgment would be facilitated, according to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). It claimed that the judge did not follow established procedures before imprisoning a contemptor.