Nigeria — It was all tears yesterday as Justice Oluwayemi of a Lagos High Court ordered that actress and former beauty queen, Ibinabo Fiberesima, be remanded at the female prison in Kirikiri pending a ruling on her application for bail.

Justice Oluwayemi gave the order at the resumed hearing of a bail application and stay of judgment filed by Ibinabo.

Ibinabo who came to court with her new baby sobbed throughout the proceedings but later broke down and wept bitterly when the court finally ordered that she be kept in prison custody.

Some of her siblings and colleagues actors and actresses who had thronged the court premises were also in sorowful mood.

The court had on February 20, 2009 sentenced Ibinabo to five years imprisonment for dangerous and reckless driving which led to the death of a medical doctor, Dr. Giwa Suraj.

The convict, who appeared in court for the first time since the commencement of the suit, was assisted into the witness box by the President of Actors Guild of Nigeria, Ejike Asiegbu, but Justice Oluwayemi ordered that Ibinabo should be allowed to walk by herself into the witness box.

The court also directed the Medical Director of Kirikiri prison where she would be kept to attend to her medical needs and ensure that she was given necessary treatment until the next adjourned date of the matter.

Justice Oluwayemi, however, commended the 'sagacity' of Ibinabo's new counsel, Fred Agbaje, for ensuring that she appeared in court.

"The integrity of the bench must be respected and the rule of law must be obeyed. I commend the sagacity of her new counsel, Fred Agbaje, for upholding the integrity of the court", the judge stated.

Earlier, Fred Agbaje, while moving his application on Motion on Notice dated March 19, 2009, withdrew the first application seeking an order staying execution of the judgment of the court delivered on February 20, 2009.

He, however, moved the second leg of the application which urged the court to admit her to bail pending the final determination of Ibinabo's appeal against the judgment.

He submitted that that the appellant (Ibinabo) had shown special circumstances why she should be admitted to bail adding that Ibinabo is suffering from cerebral malaria, frequent black outs and depression.

He submitted that there are no medical facilities to treat such ailments in the prison and urged the court to look into these special circumstances.

Agbaje further submitted that the appellant has three children one of whom is one year old while the others are seven years old and 11 years old respectively.

He further submitted that the said children were living with the appellant and that she solely takes care of them as a single mother adding that the children would be gravely affected if their mother was not granted bail as there would be nobody to take care of them.

He urged the court to resolve the issue in the affirmative and admit his client on bail pending the appeal.

In their counter affidavit, the Solicitor General of Lagos State, Lawal Pedro (SAN), did not oppose the bail application but on the condition that she appears in court, adding that the state would continue to defend judgments of the courts and act as prosecutor and not a persecutor.

He submited that, the State is not opposing the application for bail in order to avoid unnecessary interlocutory appeal in order to ensure that the appeal was addressed.

The matter has been adjourned till April 2, 2009, for ruling.