Simone Gbagbo’s 20 Years Imprisonment: Would This Happen In Nigeria?

 

The sentencing of the Ivory Coast First Lady, Simone Gbabgo to 20 years imprisonment has made headlines globally. Simone was found guilty of perpetuating post-election violence in 2010 after her husband, Laurent Gbagbo, lost the elections. He refused to step down from the seat of the president and this sparked off a feud between supporters of both sides and thousands of lives were lost in the resulting violence.

What really caught my attention as an observer, was the fact that the sentencing came from a court in Ivory Coast and not an International Criminal Court. It is rare to see the African judicial system hold a leader or first lady accountable for crimes committed when in power.

This goes to show that Ivory Coast is beginning to mature in its judicial system, though one would wonder why it took 5 years for Simone Gbagbo to be convicted.

The Nigerian judicial system needs to learn from this and be confident enough to bring to the books anyone found erring irrespective of their status in the society.

By Oma Ehiri