Lasun Alagbe
Inibehe Effiong, a human rights lawyer, has given reasons why popular cross dresser, Bobrisky, will have a tough time surviving in prison.
On April 2024, Bobrisky, was sentenced to a six-month imprisonment without any bail option.
According to Effiong, Bobrisky is not a freedom fighter and does not appear to be capable of remaining in a constrained setting under hard and torturous conditions.
The lawyer fears that Bobrisky will be confronted by a culture shock when he enters Ikoyi Prison.
He said, “Bobrisky will have a difficult experience in the Custodial Centre (prison) because he is not a freedom fighter and does not seem to me like someone that can stay in a restricted environment under harsh and excruciating conditions.
“The main key to surviving imprisonment is mental strength and courage. The prison wall only breaks those who are not driven by strong convictions. For a freedom fighter, it is a training ground. No true activist goes to prison and comes out weaker. They always come out stronger and bolder. History shows this clearly. Any activist who is broken by imprisonment is a pretender.
“If you are all about the ‘soft life’, and you are the fragile type and incapable of enduring physical discomfiture, you should avoid imprisonment. Some of us came out stronger after our imprisonment because we have always been mentally prepared for it and due to our strong ideological disposition. But Bobrisky will be confronted by a culture shock when he enters Ikoyi Prison and realizses that it is a different world from what he knows. After a few days, he will begin to adjust to his new world.”
