still find this story strange though I have
confirmed it's 100% true. An update from
SaharaReporters
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has asked
the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. MD
Abubakar, to ensure the immediate release
from unlawful detention of Mrs. Clara Chime,
the First Lady of Enugu State who is being
held hostage at Government House Enugu by
Governor Sullivan Chime, or be dragged to
court.
In a letter dated November 1, 2013, Mr.
Falana, representing Mrs. Chime, pointed out
that his client has been kept incommunicado
in solitary confinement for over four months
on the directives of Governor Chime.
“Thus our client’s fundamental rights to the dignity
of her person, personal liberty, fair hearing, private
and family life and freedom of movement
guaranteed by the Constitution and the African
Charter on Human and People’s Rights
(Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Laws of the
Federation of Nigeria 2004 have been violated
without any legal justification,” it um said.
“Although our client’s dehumanizing detention
conditions have had deleterious effects on her
psychological state as well as her mental and
physical health she has been denied access to her
doctors by her abductors,” the petition said. “It is
particularly disturbing to note that some of the
police and state security service personnel
assigned to secure the safety of the Enugu State
governor, his wife and other family members have
aided and abetted Mr. Chime in subjecting our
client to egregious infringements of her aforesaid
fundamental rights.”
It pointed out, however, that unlike the governor
who is currently immune from prosecution under
the constitution, the police and state security
service officials involved in the illegal arrest and
detention of Mrs. Chime ought to be sanctioned
under the relevant laws.
In a letter exclusively published by
SaharaReporters on October 28, Mrs. Chime
complained that Governor Chime had placed her
under house arrest, and begged human rights
bodies to come to her rescue.
She said that eminent personalities such as
President and Mrs. Goodluck Jonathan and the
Bishop Callistus Onaga of Enugu State and other
top priests had attempted to intervene in the
matter without success.
Among other things, Mrs. Chime said she had been
introduced to two psychiatrists, Dr. Onwukwe and
Dr. Agumo, who prescribed “all kinds of drugs that
ends up keeping me acute depressed and also
drives me into hallucinations.”
