By Ofonime Honesty

A syndicated piece, with the caption ‘The Journey of Barr Inibehe Effiong to Correctional Center’, authored by Ndon Assian, a respected, long-standing Court Reporter in Akwa Ibom State, has added more fireworks to the already fiery exchanges trailing the unexpected jailing of Human Rights Lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, on the order of Justice Ekaette Obot, the Akwa Ibom State Chief Judge.

In a nutshell, Mr Assian, in his piece, had lampooned the attitude of the popular lawyer. To buttress his point, the writer announced that in his 21 years of covering crime and the courts, he has never witnessed a lawyer talk to a judge, “let alone the state chief judge and display the kind of insulting behaviour put up by the lawyer in front of the court.”

“While I sympathize with counsel, I think he will learn his lesson after one month concurrently (15 days) in the correctional center,” he added.

A source contacted me on Thursday, July 28, 2022, to discuss the matter.
We put the Press Statement issued by Inibehe Effiong Chambers and the article done by Assian into context.

From the press statement, it could be easily deduced that Inibehe Effiong Chambers was holding brief for its principal who has been slammed to jail without trial. As I brought Assian’s writeup into our discussion, my source dismissed it as “the opinion of an interested party.”

At that point, I sought for clarification, and was unequivocally told that Ndon Assian is a Principal Witness to His Excellency Mr Udom Emmanuel in the matter.

My source said he got the information barely 30 minutes before reaching out to me.

As one who strives not to write or report from a vacuum, yours truly later made efforts to verify the information. Part of my verification efforts led me to source for the writer’s mobile phone number.
We later spoke on phone, and Mr Assian confirmed that he is a Witness to the Governor, that he has played the role since 2019.

I thanked him for the clarification but pointed out that he should have included same in the referenced writeup.

Our discussion progressed and I raised objections against the reported presence of armed police officers inside the courtroom and the detention of Saviour Imukudo of Premium Times.
Assian said Saviour Imukudo wasn’t detained within the court premises, that he (Imukudo) was only waiting to retrieve his seized mobile phone. On the presence of mobile police officers inside the courtroom, Assian said the judge invited them to restore calm inside the courtroom when the session became rowdy.

Yours truly equally pointed out that the Chief Judge was recently seen partying with Governor Udom Emmanuel and Senator Effiong Bob during the traditional marriage of Bob’s daughter; and suggested that the pendency of the case should have made the Chief Judge stay away from that colourful nuptial party. Governor Udom Emmanuel and Senator Effiong Bob are the plaintiffs in the matter.

Assian’s response was that several judges across Nigeria also attended the said event.

I made it clear to Mr Assian at commencement of our interaction that I would use our conversation for a write-up, and he obliged.

We spoke about other very sensitive issues bordering on the case, and we mutually agreed to keep such details out of this writeup. Any additional information gleaned from our interaction can never and will never leak from my hands or mouth. It is a pact I will never violate.

A press statement from Inibehe Effiong Chambers defending its principal is now in the public domain; Mr Ndon Assian’s writeup should also be taken as a “press statement” in defence of the court, the Governor and Senator Effiong Bob, not an unbiased report of a neutral observer.
Yes, Assian’s version may or may not be totally correct, but it being authored by an interested party (Principal Witness to the Governor) destroys any perception of neutrality.

Another Witness to the Governor, Rev Richard Peters (an aide to the Governor) was doing a Facebook Livestreaming in court; same court that a reporter of Premium Times was ordered out. Vested interest in this matter has to be clearly spelt out.

As the days progress, we shall know more about this case.

Much respect and appreciation to Mr Ndon Assian for explaining his role to me, and agreeing that I use his explanation for my writeup.