How Nigerian "I am not guilty" almost landed me in prison, by Semiu A. Akanmu.

Senator Elisha Abbo's non-guilty plea, in spite of the video footage and self-admission of the offense in what he called public apology, reminded me of my traffic offense and subsequent court arraignment experience in Malaysia.

Senator Elisha Abbo (Photo credit: all9ja.com)

 I had an important errand to run in a nearby town and my car insurance and road tax had expired, but the Aremo-Oje witches who were still on my case whispered to me that "ayun lo, ayun bo, l'owo n'yun'nu". I heeded. I was unlucky as I was caught by traffic police on my way back; booked and had to go to court in a month, or so, after.

I got to the court early enough on the hearing date to mentally prepare for my case advocacy. We were about seven traffic offenders slated for arraignment on the day. I and an Egyptian, who was also an international student, were the only two foreigners.

What firstly caught my attention was the palpable fear obvious in the demeanor of the local co-offenders when they were called to dock. Their sessions were in Malay language, so I had no idea of what was going on. 

It finally got to mine. The two-count charge was read, with the assistance of a translator who, most likely, was also the court registrar. Then the ritual court question "Do you plead guilty or not?". I responded, "I am not guilty", to the consternation of almost everyone in the court room. 

The judge, in Malay language, talked to the court registrar in what later occurred to me as the need to enlighten me of the implication of "I am not guilty" despite the incontrovertible evidence to the contrary. A conversation ensued.

"Why did you say you are not guilty? And you know you're guilty, right?"

"Alleged offenders do not say they are guilty in court."

"Says who?"

"In Nigeria, and I think Malaysia also follows British common law, alleged offenders do not say they are guilty. I have not heard of one."

"No. You will anger the judge. The evidence is incontrovertible. You will need to hire an attorney. You will be remanded. At the end, you will still be found guilty because the evidence is there. You must say you're guilty and plead for lenient penalty. That is time and cost reasonable".

The man moved back and reposed the question. I answered: "I am guilty". 

The judge then asked if I had further plea to make. I then pleaded for leniency. I told the court I was caught just two days after the expiry, noting that I was on my way for the renewal when I was caught. I further added that, being a student, I should not be heavily penalized to avoid unbearable financial burden.

The judge then agreed to a 50% slash of my penalty. I was asked to pay RM200 instead of RM400. An electronic cash teller machine is in the court premise. It generates a barcode for verification before I was given back my driver license (which I submitted when I arrived at the court) and cleared of the offense.

I drove back to my town thinking of how Nigerianism almost took me to prison for remand.