A human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has compared the conviction of the Chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, for contempt of court with a similar fate that befell him (Effiong) in a court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
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Apparently referring to himself, Mr Effiong, on Tuesday, said on Twitter: “An innocent man went to prison for one month for “contempt of court” without being given fair hearing for merely seeking to uphold the sanctity of the Court and independence of the media. The man that actually committed contempt of court is sleeping in his house. What a country!”
The young lawyer, apparently, was also referring to the EFCC chairperson, Mr Bawa, in the tweet.
A High Court in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on 28 October sentenced Mr Bawa to jail for contempt of court after the EFCC refused to obey a court order that the anti-graft agency should return a seized SUV – a Range Rover – and N40 million to its owner, a former Director of Operations at the Nigerian Air Force, Rufus Ojuawo.
The judge, Chizoba Oji, ordered the Inspector General of Police to put Mr Bawa in Kuje prison in Abuja.
The police had not yet arrested Mr Bawa, while the EFCC has vowed to appeal the court ruling.
Mr Bawa’s case contrasts with that of Mr Effiong, who was jailed in July for one month by the Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State, Ekaette Obot, for alleged contempt of court after the lawyer raised concerns over the presence of armed police officers in court and the eviction of a PREMIUM TIMES reporter from court.
Mr Effiong has served his one month jail term.
Several Nigerians, including the Nigerian Bar Association and the Nigeria Labour Congress, faulted the procedure adopted by Justice Obot in jailing the lawyer.
“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,” the NBA president at that time, Olumide Akpata, had said.
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