Actress Ibinabo Fiberesima Bail Application Suffers Setback...

Actress and former beauty
queen Ibinabo Fiberesima,
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 and 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 from 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.
The appellate court
dismissed the actress’
appeal in its judgement
delivered on February 11 and
affirmed the decision of the
Lagos High Court.

Source:  Sahara reporters.