Mrs Bianca Acted In Self Defence
It was Chunua Achebe who once said that those whose kernels were cracked by benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble. Being the wife of a (former) governor does not give one the privilege to insult people, especially the people who fought for the establishment of the party that gave one’s husband the opportunity to be a two-time governor in the state . The same Mrs Obiano was once alleged to have verbally abused Senator Uche Ekwunife in faraway Poland , calling her prostitutes .It was the then first lady ,Mrs Patience Jonathan, that saved the day . The same uncultured attitude was again demonstrated on 16th November 2014 after the dedication of the child of the Anglican bishop of Akwa ,His Lordship Most Rev. Dr. Ibezim at the cathedral of St. Faith, Awka. In this scenario it was between her and the wife of the deputy governor. After slapping the wife of the deputy governor , it took the intervention of the security men and Sir Victor Umeh to prevent the duo from physical fight. Many stories have surfaced online on how slaps have formed integral part of the welfare packages of Mrs Obiano’s domestic staff.
For those blaming Mrs Bianca Ojukwu for stooping to the level of Mrs Obiano during that ignominious outing at the venue of swearing-in ceremony of Prof Soludo, they should remember that our people say that ‘oburu na agabaghi uzoro owerrri mgba onaghi echi’’, which when translated means ‘If you do not go to war today then you will not be able to live tomorrow.’ As we are going to see in the course of this write-up, Mrs Bianca Ojukwu, an astute lawyer, is fully aware that section 285 of the criminal code empowers her to use any reasonable force (which includes slaps ) to stop further insult to her personality.
Section 283 of the criminal code ,law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as it is applicable in southern Nigeria , defines the term "provocation", used with reference to an offence of which an assault is an element, as any wrongful act or insult of such nature as to be likely, when done to an ordinary person, or in the presence of the ordinary person to another person who is under his immediate care, or to whom he stands in a conjugal, parental, filial, or fraternal relation, or in the relation of master or servant, to deprive him of the power of self‐control, and to induce him to assault the person by whom the act or insult is done or offered.
When such an act or insult is done or offered by one person to another, or in the presence of another to a person who is under the immediate care of that other, or to whom the latter stands in any such relation as aforesaid, the former is said to give to the latter provocation for an assault. A lawful act is not provocation to any person for an assault. An act which a person does in consequence of excitement given by another person in order to induce him to do the act, and thereby to furnish an excuse for committing an assault, is not provocation to that person for an assault. An arrest which is unlawful is not necessarily provocation for an assault, but it may be evidence of provocation to a person who knows of the illegality.
It is a known fact in law that provocation is a defence in Nigeria’s criminal law system. From the online video, it was Mrs Obiano that walked up to Mrs Ojukwu to insult her to the extent that Mrs Ojukwu was deprived of the power of self control hence Mrs Ojukwu is exonerated from mens rea (guilty mind). Although the act of slapping of Mrs Obiano by Mrs Ojukwu may be seen as actus reus (guilty act) by some people, sections 284 and 285 of the criminal code empower Mrs Ojukwu to act accordingly . Moreso, it is a known fact in law that unless the act and the mind of the person are both guilty, such a person cannot be said to be criminally responsible.
Section 284 of the criminal code expressly states that a person is not criminally responsible for an assault committed upon a person who gives him provocation for the assault, if he is in fact deprived by the provocation of the power of self‐control, and acts upon it on the sudden and before there is time for his passion to cool; provided that the force used is not disproportionate to the provocation, and is not intended, and is not such as is likely, to cause death or grievous harm. Whether any particular act or insult is such as to be likely to deprive an ordinary person of the power of self‐control and to induce him to assault the person by whom the act or insult is done or offered, and whether, in any particular case, the person provoked was actually deprived by the provocation of the power of self‐control, and whether any force used is or is not disproportionate to the provocation, are questions of fact.
Who is Mrs Obiano to walk up to Mrs Ojukwu to ask Mrs Ojukwu what she was doing in an event organized by a party that Late Ojukwu was part of the founders and also a presidential flag-bearer of the party? Where was Mrs Obiano in 2003 when APGA was formed as a party? Nothing else defines provocation than Mrs Obiano walking up to Mrs Bianca Ojukwu to insult her in a gathering organized by APGA-led government . As governor Wike will always ask ,’who is her (Mrs Obiano’s) father? ’ . In case Mrs Obiano does not know, Bianca is a Nigerian politician, diplomat, lawyer, and businesswoman. She is a multiple international pageant titleholder, having won Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria 1988 and Miss Africa, and is best known as the first African to win Miss Intercontinental. It may interest Mrs Obiano that Mrs Ojukwu is the sixth child of the governor of the old Anambra state.
Section 285 of the criminal code empowers Mrs Ojukwu to use any reasonable force to stop further insult to her personality. This section clearly states that it is lawful for any person to use such force as is reasonably necessary to prevent the repetition of an act or insult of such a nature as to be provocation to him for an assault: Provided that the force used is not intended and is not such as is likely, to cause death or grievous harm.
This insulting attitude of Mrs Obiano towards the wife of Eze-Igbo-Gburugburu brings us to the concept of Igbo-ama-eze, which when translated means Igbo does not respect kingship. Are you telling me that the wife of a sitting governor or former governor could walk up and ask the widow of Ahmadu Bello what she was doing in an event in the north? Is it not a taboo for the wife of a South-western governor to insult the widow of renowned Yoruba leader in an occasion let alone calling her a prostitute ?
Everybody seems to be happy with the immediate justice that Mrs Ojukwu served Mrs Obiano, describing such an act as a good riddance to bad rubbish.
Dr Paul John ,08083658038,[email protected],Port Harcourt