My Wife Has Medical Challenges – Governor Chime; Her Detention Barbaric, Uncivilized – CLO

The controversies trailing the whereabouts of Mrs. Clara Chime, wife of the Enugu State Governor, Barr. Sullivan Chime deepened on Wednesday with the Civil Liberties Organisation, CLO, describing her alleged detention as barbaric.

The CLO’s condemnation came in less than 24 hours after Governor Chime addressed some selected journalists admitting that his wife was facing health challenges.

However, in statement signed by the Coordinator of the CLO in the South-East Zone, the organization said the alleged treatment being meted out on Clara was uncivilized.

According to the statement, the CLO “condemn in an unequivocal terms the continuous unlawful detention of Mrs. Clara Chime the wife of the executive governor of Enugu State Mr. Sullivan Chime, who has been held captive by security details attached to the Enugu state governor to protect the governor Mr. Sullivan Chime, Clara and the entire family”.

The statement entitled “Continuous Unlawful Detention of Mrs Clara Chime at the Enugu State Government Lodge by Security Agents on the Directives of Governor Sullivan Chime, Barbaric, Unlawful and Unconstitutional”, continued that “in view of the recent petition dated 1st November 2013, addressed to the Inspector General of Police by the Learned Senior Advocate of Nigeria Mr. Femi Falana demanding the immediate release of Mrs Clara Chime from her continued unlawful detention, we believe that this is the right time that all well meaning citizens of this great country should condemn this barbaric, uncivilised and unlawful act by a governor who is the chief security officer of the state.

“It should be noted that Mrs. Clara Chime freedom of movement and personal liberty has been curtailed since over four months ago by the security agents namely State Security Service (SSS) officials and policemen attached to the government house who have been acting on the directives of the state governor.

“It is submitted that this action of the governor is an affront on the constitutional guaranteed rights to freedom of movement and personal liberty enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which are also guaranteed rights under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ratification and Enforcement Act), Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004”.

“It is further submitted that this act is violates the “Convention To Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) (1981)” of which Nigeria is a party. The Convention defines discrimination against women as “…any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.” This Convention was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979 and was ratified in 1981.

“This matter goes beyond that of matrimonial issue and is an attack on women’s’ rights in this country. The “Matrimonial Causes Act” which is the law that governs matrimonial matters in the country laid down the procedures to be followed by an aggrieved spouse who wishes to divorce his or companion, but continuous detention, infringement on right to personal liberty and freedom of movement were never part of the law or sanctions provided by the law.

“This action by the governor constitutes a grave violation on the rights of women in Nigeria and setting a bad example in the country.

“We join the learned Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana in demanding the immediate release of Mrs Clara Chime from her continued detention by the security agents at the Enugu State government house acting on the directives of the state governor”, the statement added.

Chime had earlier denied subjecting his wife, Mrs. Clara Chime, to house arrest. Instead, he vowed to protect her from being exposed to ridicule.

The state governor, however, stated that it was “so disturbing” for him to speak out publicly about his wife’s health challenges.

He vowed to do all within his power, no matter the personal pains, to protect her from ridicule.
“Well, my wife has some medical challenges and it would be very unkind for me to talk about her condition on the pages of newspapers.

“I have done everything to protect her integrity and I’m not now going to expose her to ridicule because some people want to exploit her situation to drag me into a needless war of words,” Chime was quoted