After your horrible prison experience, how is life treating you?
Life has been nice to me. I’m a more relaxed person now than before and I’m at peace with myself and you can notice it.
What would you say is the lesson that your recent experience taught you?
Life has taught me to be more careful; to look before I leap. In the past, I used to take a lot of things for granted, but now, I’m calmer. I also pray a lot these days.
Do you see yourself as a testimony of God’s mercy?
Yes, I’m a defined testimony of God’s mercy. The accident, the trial and the trauma I had to pass through, and finally my release from prison is worthy of a testimony. I actually don’t remember the accident anymore and it’s amazing. I never believed I could get over the trauma.
While it lasted, I locked myself up in the darkness of my little world for several days without food. It was close to hell. But I must tell you; the depression, the trauma and the pain were unbearable. I came out of Kirikiri prison, feeling dejected, and abandoned. People no longer wanted me around them any more . But like I said earlier, it’s a different world today. In prison, the inmates showed me a lot of love, care and sympathy. They also gave me hope and the confidence to live. I was also treated as family in that peaceful environment.
Surprisingly and in spite of my incarceration, I’m still celebrated and recognised as a celebrity in the country.
What went through your mind the moment you were ushered into the prison?
First, when I was ushered into the Black Maria, after the court verdict, I went into a shock. I cried out for help, but nobody heard my cry .And when the Black Maria moved from the court to pick other inmates in other courts, it dawn on me that the game was up.
When we got to a particular court, I refused to climb down from the Black Maria. There, a woman joined me with a child. I was dumfounded. As I summoned up courage to ask what she was doing with a child in a Black Maria, she said to me; “I don’t have anywhere to keep her, hence I’m going to prison with her.” I felt bad. Eventually, that same baby was soon to become everybody’s baby in prison .
More drama was soon to unfold as the Black Maria approached the prison gate. I passed out.
I couldn’t believe it. That I, Ibinabo was going to make the prison my new home.
For three days, I was in a shock. And when I recovered, I started receiving inmates who called to sympathise with me.
Soon, life returned to normal and my interaction with other inmates became cordial. Life in the prison could be compared to life in a female hostel in high school.
And since I was a boarder in high school, I was quick to adjusted to the environment.
But what hurts most was knowing that some inmates had spent between five and seven years on awaiting trial. All of these will be contained in my prison notes which will be published soon.
How did I meet Christ, you may want to ask me?
In prison, there was a particular pastor that got me to reflect on what brought me to Kirikiri. I thought of so many things including how I begged the family of the man I knocked down. I also thought of my relationship with God and wondered if l was on a good stand with Him.
I wondered if that may have been responsible for my woes. As I pondered over these things, I got connected to my creator.At that moment, he told me “this is the path you are going to follow from today if you must find peace in life”.
While the trial lasted, you were always covering your face. Was it done as a result of shame?
Yes. It wasn’t a picture I would want to see when I’m out of the prison. If I had allowed my frustration to be captured through the lens of the press guys, it would remain in my memory forever.
How did the warders treat you?
The warders were nice to me. I was amazed at the way the warders treated me .
Is it true you were drunk when the accident happened?
I was not drunk. I was going to pick up a friend’s daughter at school on Victoria Island. She’d gone to the saloon to make her hair. I was on my way home when she pleaded with me to stop over and pick up her daughter and another lady. As the lady was not properly dressed, I was counseling her when a group of four guys in a red-car, smoking at random, for no reason trailed and tried to overtake our vehicle.
Sensing danger, I increased my speed, but the guys double theirs. While trying to avoid hitting their car, I swerved to the other lane and unfortunately collided with two cars on motion. That’s exactly what happened. When the accident happened, I passed out. And when I woke up, I found myself in the hospital. As I speak with you, I am yet to set my eyes on that car. I don’t know where they kept the car. And each time I read stories concerning the accident I always feel very bad.
During the trial, Did you feel abandoned by Family and friends?
Abandoned by my friends yes, but by family members, no. They stood by me, while the trial lasted.A year before the accident in 2005, I had relocated to Port Harcourt. I was in Lagos for a meeting with management of the African Independent Televison (AIT) regarding my annual Miss Earth beauty pageant. They were to partner with my organisation for that year’s edition.
Since the incident happened, I have learnt how not to trust anybody anymore. I put my trust now in the Lord. And this is better explained in the new song I recorded. The music captures my story.
Emotionally, I have been drained and to some extent humiliated, even in public.
I recall a particular situation, where I was called a murderer at a friend’s wedding by a certain lady.
I had stopped to greet a friend when she asked my friend “is that not the murderer”. I was furious as I confronted her, demanding that she differentiate between manslaughter by accident and murder.
But she later apologised to me, blaming her action on what she read in the national dailies about the accident.
I wasn’t happy that I was involved in that accident and I have said it over and over again that I’m deeply sorry that it ever happened. I don’t know how else to atone for the accident. (The tears started rolling down her cheeks). I started begging my victim’s family from the very day, the accident happened. My family attended the funeral rites, service of songs and I even attended the 40 days prayer when I was strong enough to move about. I met with the mother and the wife of the deceased. There’s virtually nothing I didn’t do to plead with the deceased’s family to let me off the hook. I’m still pleading with them as I speak with you right now.
Were you expecting the court verdict on the day it came?
I wasn’t. The moment the...
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Fake interview

The victim's family should let u off the hook? It's a criminal case; a case of killing someone while driving "manslaughter" so it's the state that will charge u not the family. Your problem is with the government not the family.

When the family brings a civil suit against you to pay damages for the death of their relative its that time you can beg them