Justice delayed but not denied

Veteran actress and ex-president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Ibinabo Fiberesima has had the grace of being a lucky woman.

From her birth, through school and down to career and its progression, stories abound that she has always had it easy. She, however, has had to contend with a very hard nut to crack in the last one decade: getting herself off the hook of a court case involving loss of life. And, on March 12, the lady referred to by her fans as goddess of the screen kept a date with history when she had a five-year jail term upheld against her by an Appeal Court sitting at Igbosere in Lagos. The court dismissed the appeal filed by the embattled actress challenging the judgement of a Lagos High Court that sentenced her to five years imprisonment over the death of one Dr. Giwa Suraju. The sentence had been handed down to her by Justice Deborah Oluyemi over reckless driving that caused the death of Dr. Giwa, a staff of a Lagos State hospital in an auto accident along the Lekki-Epe Expressway.

The popular actress, dissatisfied with the judgement, had consequently filed an amended appeal through her lawyer, Nnaemeka Amaechina, urging the court to set aside the five-year sentence and restore the decision of the Magistrate’’s Court that had found her guilty and awarded N100,000 against her. The appellate court, however, dismissed the appeal and affirmed the decision of the Lagos High Court. In a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Jamilu Yammama Tukur, the court held that the trial Magistrate ’’s Court lacked the discretion to grant Ibinabo an option of fine having been convicted. Ibinabo who was reported to be visibly apprehensive throughout the proceeding, subsequently burst into tears and wept profusely. Her lawyer has, however, vowed to challenge the decision of the appellate court at the Supreme Court adding that a notice had already been filed. The actress had earlier been convicted and awarded N100,000 by an Igbosere Magistrare’’s Court, but the then Attorney- General and Minister of Justice of Lagos State, Supo Sasore (SAN), felt dissatisfied and prompted the state government to take the case to the Lagos State High Court where Justice Olayemi set aside the option of fine imposed by the Magistrate’’s Court and sentenced her to five years imprisonment for dangerous and reckless driving.

In her judgement, the judge had held that the trial Magistrate exercised judicial recklessness when she gave the convict an option of fine which she declared did not serve the purpose of justice in the matter and ordered that the N100,000 be returned to Ibinabo. Bola Giwa-Adeyemi, the deceased’’s sister, in her reaction said the family had forgiven Ibinabo, but also insisted that the actress was not remorseful over the tragic incident. She hailed the Lagos State government and the judges involved in the case. Ibinabo had in February 2006 along the Lekki-Epe Expressway had her jeep flipped from her lane, jumped over the median, lost control and rammed into the Honda car driven by the late Dr. Giwa who was coming from the other direction, facing Lagos Island, just by Shoprite, the popular supermarket located on the highbrow Lekki community on the Island. The actress was said to have left the scene of the accident without checking for any survivor; took the licence plate and registration out of the car and fled the scene.

She was allegedly drunk according to bystanders. The state department of transportation had to use the VIN number to locate the owner of the jeep said to belong to Daniel Wilson. While the brother and another family friend found in the Honda car survived, Dr. Giwa was not that lucky as he died in the accident. The office of the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution had to take over the case and charged her to court. Lagos radical lawyer, Festus Keyamo, initially hired by Ibinabo was said to have withdrawn from the case on the grounds that it was a bad case. Dr. Giwa’’s family, though later offered the actress the option of public apology to the family and the public, she was said to have declined, saying it would negatively affect her image. Opinions are, however, divided about Ibinabo’’s plight. While some (mainly her fans) felt the court should have tempered justice with mercy and leave the thespian off the hook, many, like Giwa- Adeyemi, commended the courage of the judge involved in the case and showered encomium on the Lagos State government.

To this group, it was indeed soul-lifting that justice has at last been done, in spite of the fact that the case dragged on for so long. They contended that justice delayed, in this instance, has not turned out to be justice denied and expressed confidence in the judiciary as the last hope of the people. Born on February 13, 1973 to Dr. J. B. Fiberesima, a physician from Okrika, Rivers State and an Irish mother, Ibinabo attended YMCA Play Centre, Port Harcourt; Port Harcourt Primary School and Federal Government Girls’’ College, New Bussa before proceeding to the University of Ibadan where she graduated with Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature in 1994. A single mother with three kids, she lived with her grandmother for the greater part of her childhood and adolescent years.

She got the Pyramid Night Club as a birthday and graduation present from her ex-boyfriend, precisely the month she came out of school. Ex-beauty queen, event manager and entertainer, she got into entertainment after winning the Miss Wonderland Beauty Pageant in 1997. She was the first runner-up at the Miss Nigeria 1991 beauty contest. She later started acting with solid performance in ‘‘Most Wanted’’. Besides acting in other movies, she has also produced ‘‘Night in the Phillipines’’. She also contributed positively to the Nigeria music industry by appearing in music videos.

Source: nationalmirroronline.