There was drama at Abuja High Court as Charles Okah, the alleged mastermind of the 2010 Independence Day bombing made an attempt to leap...
There was drama at Abuja High Court as Charles Okah, the alleged mastermind of the 2010 Independence Day bombing made an attempt to leap from the third floor of the court room. It was reported that it took the timely intervention of security operatives attached to the judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole that prevented him from jumping.
Okah first sought the permission of the judge to speak on what he termed “endless trial,” as his counsel was absent in court. The suspect is standing trial on charges of terrorism. The judge granted the oral application and permitted Okah to speak for about five minutes.
Okah said: “I have been incarcerated for about five years now and I have a family to cater for. My children would grow up without feeling the warmth of their father and I am tired of this endless trial. I really do not know what I have done to be treated this way.
“Is it not better to die than to wait and be messed up this way?” he asked.
Immediately after Okah ended his speech, he grabbed a chair in the court and quickly moved toward a window on third floor of the five-storey building and attempted to jump down.
Consequently, Kolawole adjourned the case to Oct. 20 for continuation of trial. Okah’s long trial has been compounded as a result of the introduction of numerous injunctions from both the prosecution and defence teams.
Others charged in the case are Obi Nwabueze and Edmund Ebuware. The fourth accused, Tiemkemfa Osuvwo, died in Kuje prison, while Ebuwari has been jailed for life as his case was separately decided.
