Nollywood Ibinabo Fiberesima to spend 5 years in jail for manslaughter – Appeal Court

Nollywood Ibinabo Fiberesima to spend 5 years in jail for manslaughter – Appeal Court

By The Citizen

The Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal has upheld the judgment of a Lagos State High Court sentencing an ex-beauty queen, Ibinabo Fiberesima, to five years imprisonment for manslaughter.

The lower court presided over by Justice Deborah Oluwayemi had convicted Fiberesima of manslaughter, ruling that the actress' reckless driving was responsible for the death of one Dr. Giwa Suraj on the Lekki-Epe Expressway.

Justice Oluwayemi had set aside the verdict of a Lagos State Magistrates' Court in Igbosere which earlier ordered Fiberesima to pay a fine of N100,000 for the offence.

The high court judge ordered that the N100,000 should be refunded to her while she should proceed on five years imprisonment.

However, Fiberesima, not pleased, headed for the Court of Appeal seeking to upturn the Justice Oluwayemi's verdict.

But in a unanimous decision on Friday, a three-man appellate court panel, in a lead judgment by Justice Jamilu Tukur, dismissed Fibersima's notice of appeal adjudging it as lacking in merit.

The panel, comprising Justices U.I. Ndukwe-Anyanwu and Justice Tijani Abubakar, said the magistrate court, which ordered Fiberesima to pay a N100,000 fine after conviction, misused its discretion.

The appellate court aligned with the reasoning of Justice Oluwayemi, who described the magistrate's verdict as judicial recklessness.

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