Nigeria: Incarceration and Denials
Published: 6 November 2013 By Abiodun Giwa
Sullivan and Clara.
A question has arisen about who may have lied between Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State in Nigeria and his wife, Clara Chime, over an allegation of incarceration of the latter reported by Sahara Reporters and other major news sources in Nigeria. Reports have said that the governor has incarcerated Clara; that the woman has appealed to the Human Rights Commission for help and that she has reportedly hired a famed Nigerian lawyer, Femi Falana, to sue on her behalf.
But less than five days after the reports in newspapers, the governor and his wife had issued a caveat in the presence of some family members. The governor is reported to have said that he has merely been protecting his wife from public ridicule, and he vows to continue protecting her from public ridicule. Clara also publicly denied ever sending an SOS to the rights' commission or asking Falana to sue on her behalf, the Punch newspaper reported.
Observers say something is definitely wrong with the state of the marriage between Sullivan and Clara, and that it may be difficult to know who is lying between the husband and his wife. But if the lines of earlier reports are considered, they say Clara may be assumed to be under threat, and that she may have retracted the claim that she has sent an SOS to the rights commission or that she has asked a lawyer to sue on her behalf.
In earlier published stories, she was reported to have said that only one person within the governor's circle was sympathetic to her cause, and that her life was in danger. The stories said further that Clara said it was four years ago that sexual interaction between her and the husband seized. Questions that the report have raised are whether the governor's wife has been ill; and that if she has been indisposed due to illness, what type of ailment could have warranted Sullivan's choice of protecting her from public ridicule?
Pundits go further with a question such as whether the governor is right or wrong to have concealed whatever the health problem Clara may be having from public knowledge. People say that the fact that the governor has claimed that he has been protecting his wife from public ridicule is a confirmation of incarceration, but he has not explained why psychiatry should be the reason for putting Clara in a dungeon and not a psychiatric hospital. Some people say the worst ailment Clara may be having and for the husband's decision to protect her from ridicule may be psychiatric.
But one source said that there was a rumored allegation some time ago and that the need to ensure the wife does not spill the beans was capable of causing the problem between them. The source says that a psychiatric problem may also be responsible, because Nigeria like other under-developed countries does not extend any human right that will stop families from incarcerating members suffering from the ailment, in a society where psychiatric problem is seen as a stigma to be avoided. But there is a strong doubt this issue has anything to do with psychiatry. In the circumstance, Femi Falana may have to come clean and tell the public the truth or otherwise that Clara has hired her for him to protect her interest. Curious observers say that it is definite someone is trying a cover up here, and it is by all the parties coming to say the truth that they know that Clara's life can be saved.
Ironically, Sullivan himself is known to have been fighting an ailment, and he has been on and off from the State House receiving medical attention abroad most of the time he has been in office.
But less than five days after the reports in newspapers, the governor and his wife had issued a caveat in the presence of some family members. The governor is reported to have said that he has merely been protecting his wife from public ridicule, and he vows to continue protecting her from public ridicule. Clara also publicly denied ever sending an SOS to the rights' commission or asking Falana to sue on her behalf, the Punch newspaper reported.
Observers say something is definitely wrong with the state of the marriage between Sullivan and Clara, and that it may be difficult to know who is lying between the husband and his wife. But if the lines of earlier reports are considered, they say Clara may be assumed to be under threat, and that she may have retracted the claim that she has sent an SOS to the rights commission or that she has asked a lawyer to sue on her behalf.
In earlier published stories, she was reported to have said that only one person within the governor's circle was sympathetic to her cause, and that her life was in danger. The stories said further that Clara said it was four years ago that sexual interaction between her and the husband seized. Questions that the report have raised are whether the governor's wife has been ill; and that if she has been indisposed due to illness, what type of ailment could have warranted Sullivan's choice of protecting her from public ridicule?
Pundits go further with a question such as whether the governor is right or wrong to have concealed whatever the health problem Clara may be having from public knowledge. People say that the fact that the governor has claimed that he has been protecting his wife from public ridicule is a confirmation of incarceration, but he has not explained why psychiatry should be the reason for putting Clara in a dungeon and not a psychiatric hospital. Some people say the worst ailment Clara may be having and for the husband's decision to protect her from ridicule may be psychiatric.
But one source said that there was a rumored allegation some time ago and that the need to ensure the wife does not spill the beans was capable of causing the problem between them. The source says that a psychiatric problem may also be responsible, because Nigeria like other under-developed countries does not extend any human right that will stop families from incarcerating members suffering from the ailment, in a society where psychiatric problem is seen as a stigma to be avoided. But there is a strong doubt this issue has anything to do with psychiatry. In the circumstance, Femi Falana may have to come clean and tell the public the truth or otherwise that Clara has hired her for him to protect her interest. Curious observers say that it is definite someone is trying a cover up here, and it is by all the parties coming to say the truth that they know that Clara's life can be saved.
Ironically, Sullivan himself is known to have been fighting an ailment, and he has been on and off from the State House receiving medical attention abroad most of the time he has been in office.
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