The Court of Appeal sitting in Uyo has overturned the conviction of Dr. Nwaopara Adolphus Uche, a consultant psychiatrist formerly with the Psychiatric Hospital, Eket, declaring the earlier ruling by the Akwa Ibom State High Court unconstitutional, null, and void.
In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Abiodun Azeem Akinyemi JCA, the appellate court held that the lower court, presided over by Justice Nseemeke Daniel, failed to comply with mandatory constitutional and procedural safeguards, including the right to fair hearing.
Dr. Nwaopara had been convicted on October 4, 2023, under Suit No. HEK/13C/2018, a decision now quashed in Appeal No: CA/C/376C/2023, following a meticulous review by a special panel of the Court of Appeal, Calabar Judicial Division. The panel was led by the President of the Court of Appeal, Hon. Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem PCA, with Justices Peter O. Affen JCA and Abiodun Akinyemi JCA concurring.
The appellate court addressed two central issues: whether the appellant was served with the proof of evidence, and whether the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. Justice Akinyemi ruled that the trial court acted on a non-existent record, wrongly assuming that the appellant had been served.
“The trial judge erred in refusing the appellant’s request for the proof of evidence. This amounted to a fundamental breach of his right to fair hearing as guaranteed by Section 36(6) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended),” the judgment read.
The court further criticized the trial court’s rejection of the appellant’s formal request, calling it a grave constitutional violation and an abdication of judicial responsibility.
On the second issue, the appellate court found that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. The judgment noted that a trial tainted by unfairness “lacks credibility” and “creates reasonable doubt about the appellant’s guilt and conviction.”
The appellate panel unanimously allowed the appeal, set aside the conviction and sentence, and ordered Dr. Nwaopara’s immediate discharge and acquittal.
Reacting to the judgment, Dr. Nwaopara expressed deep gratitude for the acquittal after what he described as an eight-year ordeal of persecution, cyberbullying, and professional sabotage. He blamed the ordeal on a group of “tribalistic and abusive colleagues” who, he said, attempted to vilify and frustrate his reform efforts as Medical Superintendent at the Psychiatric Hospital, Eket.
“What I faced was not just legal injustice, but a brutal character assassination for trying to enforce accountability and improve a broken system,” he said.
Dr. Nwaopara detailed significant reforms he initiated during his tenure—including infrastructural renovations, establishing new financial systems, halting unauthorized revenue collection, and securing medical equipment donations from Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited—all of which were documented but ignored in public discourse.
“Rather than appreciation, what I got was blackmail and vendetta,” he lamented.
Dr. Nwaopara thanked his legal team, notably the late Faye Dikkio SAN, and Dr. Edwin S.C. Obiorah SAN, who concluded the appeal with distinction. He also acknowledged support from the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (APN), its president Prof. Taiwo Obindo, and other colleagues who stood by him throughout the trial.