A Lagos-based lawyer sentenced to one-month imprisonment, Inibehe Effiong, on Friday completed his jail term at the Uyo Correctional Centre, Akwa Ibom.
The legal practitioner was handed with the prison term by the Akwa Ibom State Chief Judge, Justice Ekaette Obot.
“I am back, stronger and more determined to confront the forces of oppression and to continue to speak nothing but the hard truth to the faces of the oppressors of our people. I feel sorry for those who thought they can break my spirit by incarcerating me,” Effiong wrote on Friday.
Effiong incurred the wrath of the Chief Judge when he said he was uncomfortable with the presence of armed policemen in the state High Court which was presided over by Justice Obot.
The court was sitting in the case of libel by the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, against a lawyer, Leo Ekpenyong.
Effiong, who took to his verified Twitter handle, said he was jailed by the Chief Judge after he challenged the presence of two armed policemen in the court.
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According to the lawyer, he raised the concern after Justice Obot ordered a journalist to leave the courtroom.
He said: “I have just been sent to Uyo prison by the Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State, Justice Ekaette Obot, for one month for defending Leo Ekpenyong in the libel suit filed by Governor Udom Emmanuel.
“Meanwhile, there is already a pending application for recusal asking the Hon. Chief Judge, Justice Ekaette Obot, to recuse Himself. We filed it since 23rd June, 2022. The motion is still pending.
“The Chief Judge of Akwa Akwa Ibom ordered a Premium Times reporter to leave the court. I said my Lord, we were thinking that since the proceeding is public, that members of the public should be allowed to observe the proceeding. My Lord asked me to proceed with cross examination.
“I obeyed. I informed the court that I was not feeling comfortable and safe having two armed mobile policemen seated inside the courtroom, that it was strange and that I felt unsafe. I applied for the judge to excuse the armed policemen from the courtroom.
“The Hon. Chief Judge then ordered me to step out of the Bar, that she was sending me to prison. She then ordered the policemen to take me to Uyo prison. And that I should be in jail for one month. I am waiting inside the courtroom for them to bring the conviction warrant.”
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