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From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar
The Mbono Iban Nsidung, a socio-cultural group comprising Efik women in Calabar South have protested the imprisonment of 80-year-old Monarch Etubom Efio-Ita Efiom.
The monarch who is also a kingmaker is said to have been imprisoned at the Afokang Correctional Centre in Calabar and his sentence is for three years without an option of a fine and has already spent a week in prison.
The protesting women, who stormed the Palace of the Obong of Calabar over the matter, carried placards with inscriptions.
Some of the placards read such as “Release Obong Obio Nsidung, “Let Peace Reign in Nsidung,” “Women of Nsidung Need Our Obong Obio Back”.
Leader of the group and the Obonganwan of Nsidung Barbara Etim James, said they were at the Palace to solicit the throne’s intervention over the imprisonment of Etubom Efio-Ita.
“The people here are women of Henshaw Town or Nsidung, we are adorning black attire which is a symbol of mourning because evil has taken over our land and the people can no longer sleep with their two eyes closed.
“We are here to express our deep sadness and anger at what transpired last week.
“Our Etubom Obio, that is, the Traditional Head of Nsidung, was arrested, taken to court, convicted and imprisoned for three years without an option of a fine in a land matter case.
“The incarcerated man is the Etubom or Traditional Head of the Efiom Ewa Nsa Royal family in Henshaw Town/Nsidung.
“He is an eminent traditional leader in our community. We are talking about an elderly, peaceful, frail man who should not be subjected to such torture.
“It is such a man that is now being incarcerated over land. This is an injustice of the highest degree.
“We the people of Nsidung want his incarceration reversed and we are here appealing to Etubom Traditional Council to intervene.
“The incarceration of Etubom Efio-Ita is an abomination and we pray nothing evil should befall him in that dungeon,” she stated.
She added that if a man of such calibre could be treated with such level of disdain, ordinary Nsidung residents are afraid for their lives.
The Chairman of the Council, HRH Etubom Bassey Duke in his remarks commended the women for their display of love and concern for their leader.
He said they are not aware of the imprisonment of the Nsidung Monarch.
He however disclosed that the palace stands by the protesting women and will ensure that the injustice is redressed.
“The truth is that, until this hour that you have come, the Palace was not aware of whatever transpired which led to the incarceration of Etubom Efio-Ita.
“But God will not allow the enemy to triumph over the righteous.
“We will stand by you to ensure this injustice is redressed. Such an anomaly has never happened in the Efik kingdom.
“What the incarceration of Etubom Efio-Ita means is that Nsidung, as a community, is under trial but God will have his way at the end of the day,” he stated.
