Embattled
Nollywood actress, Ibinabo Fiberesima's fight for freedom suffered a
major blow as her bail application gets rejected by Court of Appeal.
Ibinabo Fiberesima
The actress and former beauty queen, who is currently serving a
five-year jail term, was denied bail by the Court of Appeal in Lagos on
Thursday.
The three-man panel of judges, headed by Justice U.I.
Ndukwe-Anyanwu, ruled that the application was incomplete, as the
appellant failed to attach to her application copies of the judgment
affirming the five-year jail sentence imposed on her by a Lagos High
Court.
Presiding Justice Ndukwe-Anyanwu said the only option left was to
strike out the application or adjourn it to a further date for a
hearing.
Consequently, Nnaemeka Amaechina, Ms. Fiberesima's counsel, asked
for an adjournment to enable him to correct the bail application. The
court subsequently adjourned the matter to April 7.
Meanwhile, Ms. Fiberesima asked the Supreme Court to set aside the
judgement of the lower court that was affirmed by the appellate court.
In her notice of appeal, she stated that the Court of Appeal erred
when it affirmed the alteration by the High Court of Lagos State by
setting aside the option of a N100,000 fine and substituting it with a
prison term of five years.
The appellant further stated that the Court of Appeal erred when it
affirmed the interference by the High Court with the exercise of
discretion by the Magistrate's Court.
Ms. Fiberesima added that the judgment of the Court of Appeal was
unreasonable and could not be supported, with regard to the evidence
presented before the court.
In a six-paragraph affidavit of urgency deposed to by one Victor
Eden, the deponent stated that Ms. Fiberesima is currently recovering
breast tumor-removal surgery and requires medical attention.
“Her wound has not fully healed and as such she is afraid that
her continued stay in prison may endanger her life, as she will not have
access to special medical attention," he stated.
The deponent stated further that it would be in the interest of
justice and for her health to admit Ms. Fiberesima to bail pending the
hearing and determination of her appeal to the Supreme Court.
The actress was handed a five-year prison sentence by Justice
Deborah Oluwayemi for reckless driving, which caused the death of one
Dr. Giwa Suraj in an auto accident along the Lekki-Epe Expressway in
Lagos. Dissatisfied, Ms. Fiberesima, in her amended appellant brief
filed by Mr. Amaechina, urged the court to set aside the five-year
sentence and restore the decision of the Magistrate's Court.
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