Owing to continued detention of innocent persons in Correctional facilities, Inibehe Effiong, human rights lawyer, has advocated the re-examination of Criminal Justice in Akwa Ibom and in Nigeria.
Effiong who was freed after spending 30 days in Uyo Custodial Service Centre told journalists that while in the centre, he facilitated release of 17 prison inmates who could not secure their bonds.
Akwa Ibom State Chief Judge, Justice Ekaete Obot, sent the human rights lawyer to imprisonment for allegedly committing ‘contempt’ of court on July 27.
‘‘So, the remaining 17, I am hopeful that before the end of today they will be out. And I am doing that to also let people know that the Criminal Justice system in Akwa Ibom and Nigeria as a whole needs to be revisited. There are a lot of innocent people that are there.
See also
- NLC Joins in demanding release of incarcerated Inibehe Effiong
- Groups Protest and Demand Unconditional Release of Inibehe Effiong
- Fresh Nigerian graduate died from torture- Inibehe Effiong alleges
‘‘The society may condemn all of them as criminals but if there was no doubt that I had as a lawyer that innocent people can be sentenced. By my experience, I am now a witness of truth. By my own experience having been sent to prison with no offence disclosed, without any misconduct, then there are innocent people there,’’ Effiong stated.
According to him, ”I can announce to you that I have taken steps to secure the release of 17 inmates at the Uyo Custodial Centre, in fact one left last night. The others would have come but the authorities were concerned that people were gathering too much so I couldn’t wait. I was supposed to come out with them. We had to spend significant and substantial amount of money to make that happen.
‘‘These are people that were admitted to bail at Magistrate Courts. They had nobody to take them on bail. In fact, the young man who left yesterday was admitted to bail. Subsequently his charge was struck out. The court did not come to inform the Custodial Centre. He was just there. It was until the person I asked to go and perfect his bail went to court yesterday. That when they now came to secure his release. This is someone that had no business being in detention but this shows you how bad the system is.’’
On his incarceration, he said ‘‘Well, the prison life is what I have always been prepared for. That is why I laugh at those who were celebrating my incarceration. I have always been prepared. I knew this was inevitable because you do not consistently fight those who are oppressing our people and you do not expect to be incarcerated.
‘‘Life in the prison is a different life entirely. These are the abandoned citizens of Nigeria. They have been abandoned by the Federal Government of Nigeria. They have been abandoned by the Akwa Ibom State Government. As a matter of fact, I have also undertaken to take up cases of some of the inmates and in the coming days, you will get to learn of some of these pathetic cases.’’
