Despite the wife withdrawing the case against the lawyer who assaulted her in Akwa Ibom, the State Government could still prosecute the man, a prominent lawyer in the state, has said.
Lawyer Ekere Ebong, in a video that went viral assaulted his Pharmacist wife, Ekemini, at night in front of their residence in Ewet Housing Estate, Uyo, on 14 December 2023, thus fuelling outrage by Nigerians on social media to call for his arrest and trial.
In the video on social media, the assaulted woman wore only her underwear and had a bloodied face.
In a statement announcing his arrest on 18 December 2023, the police spokesperson in the state, Odiko MacDon, said Mr Ebong “assaulted his wife, dehumanised her, leading to various grievous injuries.”
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MacDon, also said the lawyer is a “known habitual perpetrator of violent acts against his wife over the years.”
Mr Ebong was arraigned, but granted bail, the Chairperson of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Uyo Branch, Augustine Umoh, said.
The assaulted wife in a letter dated 20 December 2023 dropped out of the case, saying she does not want her husband to be prosecuted.
But Umoh confirmed the setting up of a disciplinary committee against Mr Ebong as the practising lawyer of 17 years made a confessional statement on the assault on his wife.
Lawyers in the state believe that he could still be prosecuted as the wife is only a witness as the crime was against the state.
According to James Ibor, the principal counsel at Basic Rights Counsel Initiative, there are provisions in the Criminal Code and Administration of Criminal Justice System Laws of Akwa Ibom State that make the wife a compellable witness to the extent of validating what happened to her.
Ibor said the assaulted wife is not a complainant but only a witness and her opinion does not count in the prosecution
“And in any case, her invitation may be dispensed with because she’s the wife and the prosecutor may decide not to invite her,” he told Premium Times.
“I’m happy the NBA is involved. NBA is going to deploy every legal mechanism at its disposal to make sure she gets justice whether she likes it or not because it is not justice for her alone; it is justice for the people of Akwa Ibom State, the legal profession, human race and for he her husband, who also has sisters and mother,” Mr Ibor said.
Ibor said her action may not be for love, but because of pressure from the society.
“I know the maternal, paternal families, friends who promote patriarchy and violence against women may be saying to her, ‘Your children will hate you for sending their father to jail. Who will feed them?’’
Already, President of the NBA, Yakubu Maikyau, had ordered the Uyo branch of the association to investigate the incident as a way of establishing a case of professional misconduct against the lawyer.
