• Enugu governor may divorce
spouse
• Community insists on proper
dissolution of marriage
• Onwenu, Okei-Odumakin seek
probe, protection of victim
• Groups petition United Nations,
urge her release
ONCE upon a time in the not-too-
distant past, the wife of a state
governor somewhere in the old
Eastern Region took ill, reportedly
of depression.
Her once-loving husband, rather
than show her the care that could
have helped her recover, shipped
her off to a United States (U.S.)
hospital. .
Not much was heard of her, and
till date, not much is known of
what befell the lady. .
Now, also in the East, specifically
in Enugu State, another script with
similarities to the earlier incident
is allegedly being acted out.
Clara, the wife of Governor
Sullivan Chime of Enugu State, had
written the National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC), accusing her
husband of subjecting her to
horrific and intolerable conditions,
including house arrest.
She had told the commission that
their union had broken down
irretrievably in the past couple of
years.
“We do not have a relationship
anymore and the situation
inevitably led to my nervous
breakdown. I have been
diagnosed with severe depression
and at some point was quite
suicidal. In effect, I am locked up
in my bedroom, without access to
anybody,” her letter read in part. .
Apparently in reaction to her
petition, the NHRC last week
visited Enugu with a team of
investigators, where they had a
series of meetings with all the
parties concerned: Chime; his
wife; the governor’s sibling, Dr.
Jide Chime; Mrs. Chime’s doctor,
Dr. Aham Agumoh; her elder
brother, Tony Igwe and the
complainant’s preferred London-
based consultant psychiatrist, Dr.
A. Uzegu.
The commission had on Friday,
after concluding investigations
told journalists in Abuja that all
parties agreed that Mrs. Chime
had medical challenges but had
disagreed over how to handle her
medical condition. .
The Executive Secretary of the
commission, Prof. Ben Angwe,
said: “The complainant told the
commission that she has lost
confidence in the physician at
present handling her condition
and no longer wants him to treat
her.
“She further requested to have a
medical opinion of other medical
doctors acceptable to her,” Angwe
had said.
There were strong indications last
night that the marriage between
Chime and Clara may officially be
called off any moment from now.
This followed a meeting
summoned by the governor on
Saturday evening at the
Governor’s Lodge, Enugu, where
he reportedly asked Clara’s family
to take back their daughter.
The Guardian learnt that at the
meeting, held around 5.00 p.m.,
and attended by about 10 relatives
of the governor from Udi, and
about six from Clara’s side, both
parties disagreed on the modality
for Clara to return to her people.
A source at the meeting who
sought anonymity said: “The
governor pointedly asked her
people to take her back on the
grounds that he was no longer
interested in the marriage. But her
people refused and demanded to
know why and on what condition.
This almost resulted in a fight. In
the end, however, Clara’s people
left, apparently to go and consult
with their people.”
Clara’s mother left Enugu
yesterday to brief her people of
Ozuluobu in Amuda, Umunneoche
on the turn of events.
Confirming the story to The
Guardian yesterday evening, the
traditional ruler of Ozuluobu
Community, Umunneoche, Abia
State, His Royal Highness, Eze Bob
I. A. Ogbenna, said the family had
formerly informed him about the
development.
He said: “She came in this evening
to brief me. I am already making
consultations and we are going to
organise some people to meet
with the Enugu State governor.
Clara’s mother was in my place
this afternoon and informed me
about their meeting with the
governor. We are not fighting but
we need to hear from him. Since
they want scandal, we will be
ready to give it to them. We will be
in Enugu or Udi soon,” he said.
Eze Ogbenna, who said he handed
over Clara to Chime when he came
for her marriage some years ago,
told The Guardian on phone: “That
is not how to return somebody’s
daughter whose dowry was paid in
Igboland. She was never a
slave.” .
He, however, expressed surprise
over the attitude of Clara’s
brother, Tony, whom he said was
allegedly backing the governor
against his sister.
“I don’t know why he should
support the position of the
governor against his sister.
Anyhow, they will hear from us
after our consultations,” he said. .
Meanwhile, in reaction to the
conclusion of the NHRC, Mrs.
Chime had expressed her
disappointment at its role.
Writing a confidant, she stated: “I
am very disappointed to read what
has been narrated by the National
Human Rights Commission. Apart
from the fact that the information
was largely false, it showed lack
of sensitivity in publishing
sensitive medical detail.
“This has the effect of tarnishing
and damaging my reputation. It is
as though the commission set out
to ridicule me.
“I made it clear to them that I had
a nervous breakdown and found it
inexplicable as to how
hallucination featured as part of
my symptoms. It is important to
make this clear so that the public
should be made aware of this and
that the commission should
recognise part of her ethos in
protecting human dignity.
“It has been suggested by some
quarters that the commission
appears biased already because of
the profile of the person whose
reputation is at stake. I want to
believe that the commission would
approach my case with open mind
and in particular recognise me as
a victim of crime. I hope that
common sense would prevail and
that the commission should now
retract the damaging publication
and stop stigmatising me,” she
stated.
She had, in fact, written to the
NHRC complaining that they were
insensitive to her plight: “You
have published medical
information which is sensitive and
not true and hereby request you
to retract same immediately. I
regret that failure to do so will
result in not granting you further
audience. Thanks.”
Speaking with The Guardian on
the plight of Mrs. Chime, the
Director-General of the National
Centre for Women Development
(NCWD), Onyeka Onwenu, said her
detention was a violation of her
rights as a woman and human
being. .
Onwenu said: “My heart goes out
to her as a woman. This is a very
sensitive situation because,
oftentimes and in situation like
this, you do not have all the
information.
“Having said that, there is
something that is fundamental and
that is the rights of human beings,
which include freedom of
movement and association. .
“Even if she has mental illness,
that does not abridge her human
rights. I think this is a case that
should be taken seriously; all
freedom-loving Nigerians should
do everything to ensure that her
rights are protected and that she
has medical treatment, psychiatric
treatment of her own choosing
because I understand she does
not want the doctor chosen by her
husband. .
“She must have unfettered rights
to her son because that is her
right as a woman and human
being,” Onwenu said.
Former Nigerian Envoy to Ethiopia
and member of the House of
Representatives, Ambassador
Nkoyo Toyo, added that there was
the need to be cautious while
interfering in the affairs and the
nature of the problem had not
been disclosed. “The reason is, we
do not know the real situation of
her illness. It will be difficult to
say exactly whether it was
violation of her rights as a woman
or due to mental issues. We must
be careful here,” Toyo said. .
President, Campaign for
Democracy, Dr. Joe Okei-
Odumakin, described the detention
of Clara Chime as “crude and
barbaric”, considering the fact that
her husband occupies an exalted
position of a governor. .
She said: “The attitude is
unbecoming of a governor, that is
why we have always said people
occupying such positions should
be checked. We want a full
investigation to be conducted into
this issue to ascertain the
culpability of the governor. If
found guilty, he should be brought
to book in order to serve as a
deterrent to others,” Okei-
Odumakin said. .
Two civil society groups, Socio-
Economic Rights and
Accountability Project (SERAP)
and Women Advocate Research
and Documentation Centre
(WARDC), have petitioned Mr. El
Hadji Malick Sow, Chair/
Rapporteur of the United Nations
Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention, “to urgently investigate
allegations of arbitrary deprivation
of liberty of Mrs. Clara Chime by
her husband, Mr. Sullivan Chime,
who is the governor of Enugu
State of Nigeria.”
The groups requested the chair/
rapporteur to “issue an urgent
appeal to the governor and the
Nigerian government to release
her from unlawful detention
without further delay.” .
According to the groups: “The
continuing restriction and violation
of Mrs. Chime’s rights also
constitute violence against
women, especially given the
physical and psychological
suffering she is currently facing.”
The petition, dated November 8,
2013 and sent through the Office
of the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights Office, Mrs. Navi
Pillay, stated: “Mrs. Chime is not
known to have committed any
criminal offence, and the
deprivation of her liberty has
continued to affect her physically
and emotionally as well as
seriously undermine her other
internationally-recognised human
rights. This deprivation and
compulsory confinement is not in
conformity with international
human rights standards, and
cannot be justified under any
circumstances whatsoever.” .
Mrs. Chime had recently raised
the alarm that she was “locked
up” at the Governor’s Lodge,
Enugu, allegedly on the orders of
her husband, thereby restricting
her access to relatives, friends
and family. .
She was also said to have
complained to prominent human
rights’ lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN),
over her incarceration and pleaded
with them to rescue her from her
confinement. But Governor Chime
had denied the allegation,
stressing that his wife has “health
challenges” and that her
restriction was based on her
“doctor’s advice.”
Explaining that she was being
treated privately, he stated that he
would do everything to protect her
integrity as well not to expose her
to public ridicule. .
One source said Governor Chime
tried to justify his wife’s
confinement as well as the high
security presence around her as
measures designed to protect her
privacy and to help her deal with
certain health challenges.
A source revealed that the
governor told members of the
NHRC that his wife had to be
confined in order to curtail her
violent tendencies.
In a report published on its
website, the commission stated
that the issue was a disagreement
between the governor and his wife
“over the procedure for the
treatment of her health challenges,
which border on occasional
hallucinations and depression.”
The commission’s report
confirmed that Mrs. Chime had for
the past two weeks been confined
to her apartment on medical
advice for purposes of medical
maintenance and security, adding
that the governor’s wife admitted
that she was in possession and
control of keys to her apartment.
Angwe added that the
commission’s five-person team of
investigators had inspected the
apartment. .
But in an angry reaction to the
commission’s report, Mrs. Chime
accused its members of accepting
a bribe from the governor in order
to portray her as mentally
disturbed, according to a source
close to her.
In an e-mail to a close confidant,
she wrote: “What you read in the
newspaper is a complete farce
and fabrication,” adding: “The
truth is that I am severely
depressed because of the
inhuman suffering and atrocious
conditions I have been subjected
to for some years now.” She said
that she had “been bearing the
burden hoping that this ordeal
would come to an end somehow
but the end seems endless, hence
my crying out.” .
Mrs. Chime described her
husband’s reported “protection” of
her as “all window dressing.” She
stated that she was “only suffering
from depression because of all
that I have been subjected to,”
adding, “I am not mad as he
seems to convey. There is no
family history of serious mental
illness in my family and would
challenge him by bringing an
independent psychiatrist to
assess or evaluate my mental
state to prove my point.” .
Reacting to Mrs. Chime’s claims,
the NHRC said it was not
compromised on its report about
the alleged illegal detention of
Mrs. Chime by her husband. .
In a statement by Chairman,
Governing Council of NHRC, Chidi
Odinkalu, on Saturday, the
commission said that the
allegations against the
commission were “both factually
inaccurate and manifestly
unfounded.” .
“Having carefully reviewed the
work so far undertaken by
members of staff of the
commission, I find no basis in
them for the claims or speculation
widely circulated in the media,
that the commission has
pronounced on the state of health,
physical or mental, of the
complainant or indeed any other
party in this case,” Odinkalu said.
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