Since being sentenced to jail for the second time, this time for 5 years, Ibinabo Fiberesima has received an outpouring of support from Nollywood.
Some of her colleagues are in the process of finalizing plans to mobilize A-list actors with the intention of prevailing on Lagos State government & the family of the late Dr Giwa Suraj to have mercy on the AGN president.
Nollywood practitioners like Fred Amata, Segun Arinze, Zik Zulu Okafor, Mr Ralph Nwadike, Zeb Ejiro, Segun Arinze, Felix Duker, Ifeanyi Dike, were among first callers at the Kirikiri Maximum security prison where Fiberesima is serving her jail term.
According to Vanguard at the prison they took turns to see the actress in a small waiting room. Looking depressed and in low spirit, once cheerful Ibinabo expressed faith in God that the days of storms would soon be over.
But while she was trying to hide her emotion, other female inmates were having fun, as they kept shouting and waving at some of the popular Nollywood faces who made the prison trip.
A week before she was convicted, Ibinabo spoke about her relationship with Dr. Giwa’s family saying,
I don’t have a relationship with the family. They banned me from coming to see them. I used to visit the mother, but they warned me to stop coming to their house. So, I can only pray for them and that’s what I did always. If I had their GSM lines, I would have sent them messages. But like I said earlier, I was banned from visiting them. They said I should not dare get close to them.
She also spoke about why she is back in jail following her first stint in 2009,
When I was granted bail, the condition for granting the bail was that I should challenge the jail term slammed on me by the High Court, and urge the court to restore the decision of the Magistrate Court which fined N100,000 and I paid. And the appeal was only heard in January, that’s all. The case was between Lagos State government and I
The appellate court, last week Friday dismissed her appeal as it affirmed the High Court’s judgement. The actress broke down and wept as she was led out of court as the judge ordered that she should be sent to Kirikiri for the second time.
She was on her way to Port Harcourt when she got a call ordering her to turn back and present herself in court, unknown to her that it would be the beginning of her second journey to Kirikiri prison.
Speaking on her first experience in jail in 2009
I was involved in an accident and I have internally remained sorry that it happened. They said I am going to jail again. I almost died the first time I was sent to jail in 2009. I almost committed suicide. But thank God that He brought me out of that depression.