by africanews

Nigeria: Famous actress jailed

"A Nigerian court has sentenced a former beauty queen and popular actress Ibinabo Fiberesima to seven years imprisonment for manslaughter which she pleaded not guilty. She was alleged to have killed a medical doctor in a road accident last year after what investigators describe as "careless" driving under the influence of alcohol."

t was reported according to popular Nigeria online movie forum Naijarules.com that the actress was dragged to court by relatives of the decease due to her attitude to wards the issues. She was earlier fined by a lower magistrate court to the sum of N100, 000 (about $1,000) which she has almost paid according to the report. The presiding judge at the Tuesday hearing oppose the fine which he described as unreasonable whiles adding that ”I wonder why the magistrate regards N100,000 as an option for someone who caused the death of another person by dangerous driving. Discretion should be exercised judicially and not recklessly. He continued: “The nature of the offence is so grave that I do not know how he (the magistrate) came about with an option of fine. Justice is a three-way affair. N100,000 fine is not a reasonable judgment for someone who has taken the life of another person. I hereby set aside the judgment of the magistrate‘s court and impose five years imprisonment on the convict. “I also order that the N100, 000 fine paid by the convict should not be returned to her.”