One of the major faces organising the ongoing #EndBadGovernanceProtest especially in Lagos, Inibehe Effiong has come under criticisms from Nigerians especially on social platforms who accused him of working for Atiku Abubakar in the wake of a viral picture showing the Akwa Ibom lawyer taking selfies with the son of Atiku Abubakar in one of the protest grounds in Lagos.
Inibehe Effiong is the lead Solicitor of Omoyele Sowore’s Take It Back movement who are the major visible organisers of the 10 Days of Rage and before the commencement of the protests announced he was offering pro bono legal services alongside other volunteers to any protester that may be arrested in Lagos only during the 10-day protests.
Just like Inibehe, a self-acclaimed human rights activist who flew into Lagos from Akwa Ibom on the eve of the protests, one of the sons of Atiku Abubakar (the PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election), Shehu Atiku Abubakar also left Adamawa his home state to join the protests in Lagos.
A Nigerian, Dipo Aina, with the X handle @dipoaina1 posted a picture of Inibehe and Shehu Atiku and wrote:
“Wait oo. Is this photoshop or AI?
Atiku Son and the pro-bono lawyer taking selfie and organizing protest at Ojota, @InibeheEffion
This one’s father @atiku looted Nigeria to stupor. He sold all properties, looted even the monies from the CBN schools and manufacturing companies. He even wanted to sell NNPC to his friends. But his son is protesting today in Lagos not Abuja or Adamawa
Please someone should help me ask him how much his father sold ASCON at ikot Abasi Akwa ibom state? How much did he sell NITEL and which one of the companies he sold is working today?
#EndBadGovernace”
In defence, the Take It Back Solicitor, Inibehe Effiong said he never knew or met the son of Atiku Abubakar before until their paths crossed at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in Ojota, Lagos.
Mr. Inibehe Effiong explained that when Shehu Atiku Abubakar approached him and requested for a picture, he did not know that Shehu was Atiku Abubakar’s son. He swore that he does not have Shehu Atiku Abubakar’s phone number and never requested for it but added that even if he eventually gets Shehu’s number, it will not affect anything.
However, more Nigerians picked holes in the explanation and denial by Mr. Inibehe Effiong with some describing the posture between Atiku Abubakar’s son and Mr. Effiong in the picture as one indicating an existing relationship especially with the way Mr. Inibehe Effiong was seen holding the son of the former Vice President.
Inibehe Effiong in response explained that he was standing on a shaky spot, which explains why he held Shehu Atiku Abubakar.
“I was standing on a shaky, elevated spot”, Inibehe said.
“That explains why I was holding him the way I did to support myself. You can see that I look taller than him from this picture despite my bending position. He stood on the ground, whereas I was standing on an elevated platform”, he explained.
The ongoing protests across the country has generated heated debates among Nigerians with many accusing the organisers of being sponsored by bitter politicians who lost out in the 2023 presidential election as well as those whose illicit businesses have been shut down indirectly by the bold reforms of President Bola Tinubu.