First Lady Clara Hires Falana To Rescue Her from Her Husband, Governor Chime

The case of Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State placing his wife under some sort of 'house arrest' against her wish has taken a dramatic turn. The woman cried out to groups in the state but it seems non of them was able to confront her husband, who some have described as a "hard governor".

Consequently, the embattled First Lady has begged popular human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) to help bring her out of the mess her husband has subjected her to. And Falana has taken action...

He has written to Inspector-General of Police, 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. And if the IG fails to act, he will 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 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.”

Falana pointed out 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.

Recall that the Clara, the First Lady of Enugu State, cried out recently that her husband, the governor, and his agents are subjecting her to all manner of torture.

She said they had introduced her to 2 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.”