Former President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, ex-beauty queen and actress, Ibinabo Fiberesima has indicated her interest to contest local government election in Rivers State.
However, following her declaration, her sordid past has come haunting her once again. Nigerians are concerned about her role in a 2006 auto crash which claimed the life of a medical doctor, Suraj Giwa.
Veteran Journalist Azuka Jebose, stirred the hornets’ nest in a Facebook post in which he said that it was immoral for Fiberesima to indicate her interest in politics, while she had yet to wash her hands clean of crime.
He wrote on Facebook: ”The impact of her speed went through the slab that divided the road. She collided with Dr. Giwa who was travelling south. The impact of the collision instantly killed him and seriously injured his younger brother. The impact attracted passers-by and residents who quickly gathered to offer rescue. The vehicles began to steam smoke as Ms. Ibinabo slowly crawled out from the mangled driver side of her vehicle, then staggered to the passenger side, opened her glove compartment and removed her vehicle registration before she fled the scene.”
Jebose maintained that the actress’s aspiration was questionable, stressing that she allegedly turned down the demand for an apology by the family of the departed.
Hear him: “If we allow Ms. Fiberesima to run and win, we have endorsed her way to national political prominence. What would we tell the children of Dr. Giwa? That it’s acceptable for their father to die in a horrible way and the killer become a celebrated politician? The High Court found her guilty and sentenced her to five years jail in 2016. An appeal to the Supreme Court does not justify her freedom. She should be in jail while awaiting the Supreme Courts decision, not printing political posters to announce her candidacy, mocking us that she stands for justice, equity and service.”.
As Nigerians continue to express their opinions over the controversial issue, the story became more intense when Ibinabo sharing her own side of the incident declared that she is not a cold blooded murderer.
Fiberesima shared her own account of the incident via Azuka Jebose’s Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/azuka.jebose/posts/10214918487942982
He wrote: “Ibinabo Fiberesima, in a tear- jerking explosive one-on-one this morning, tells all about the fatal accident, drunk driving and finding peace”.
She was quoted as saying: “Azuka, I am very sorry Dr Suraj Giwa died in that accident. Please, Nigeria, forgive me. I am suffering. I have contemplated suicide several times. Azuka, I am not a killer. The accident was not intentional. I have gone into deep depression and didn’t care about living since it happened. I am not a murderer. And I was not drunk when the unfortunate accident happened…”
My heart has never stopped aching. It will not. An accident took the life of someone. I am forever in mourning because of this. Two families’ lives have been changed forever with this unfortunate fatal accident.
I have also been maligned and disparaged in the media: I am a monster. I am a killer and a murderer, I am a drunk… No. Azuka. I am none of these. I am forever very sorry this accident happened. I never planned for it. I plead with the family. I reached out to the GO of the church where the late doctor’s wife worships to beg him to join me plead with her. He was on a crusade in Benue and I went and met with him. I am very sorry it happened. I am not arrogant or careless. I have just been wrongly represented and maligned in the media. The story has several versions that make me a heartless beautiful beast and monster. I have not said much because the family is bereaved. It hurts. I need to respect their sorrows and what they are going through:trying to explain myself, I thought, would sound arrogant. So I kept quiet. I have been sorry from the moment I learnt the accident took a dear life.
“Giwa’s family said that somebody told them I was drunk at my club and must have been coming from there, that day. Are you serious?. My club was closed eight years before the accident happened..
I have been rubbished as a heartless, careless, monster, inhuman party girl and jail bird: I am none of these…
Azuka, I am not a cold blooded murderer….I am not a Killer. I am not”.