BREAKING NEWS 2010 Independence Day Bombing: Suspects Charles Okah, Nwabueze Bagged Life Sentence

BREAKING NEWS

2010 Independence Day Bombing: Suspects Charles Okah, Nwabueze Bagged Life Sentence

Charles Okah has been sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the 2010 Independence Day bombing in Abuja.

He was sentenced by the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, alongside Obi Nwabueze, his co-accused.

His elder brother Henry Okah had been sentenced for a similar crime in South Africa, where he was based.

Recall that a dozen people were killed in the bombing at the Eagle Square, Abuja during the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

The presiding judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, in a 4 hour, 30 minutes judgement found the defendants guilty as charged for being responsible for March 15, 2010, bomb blast which claimed one life in Warri, Delta State and the October 1st, 2010 bomb blast near Eagle Square in Abuja which claimed several lives.

The ruling was in accordance with section 15 sub sections 1 and 2 of the EFCC act.

The judge noted that the second defendant, Obi Nwabueze, particularly made himself available to run illegal errands for Henry Okah by providing N1.2m used to purchase five fairly used cars deployed for the Warri blast, while Charles Okah, provided the sum of N2m used for the purchase of the four cars deployed for the Independence Day blast in Abuja.

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2010 Independence Day Bombing: Suspects Charles Okah's Daughter Pleads On His Behalf

BREAKING NEWS

2010 Independence Day Bombing: Suspects Charles Okah's Daughter Pleads On His Behalf

Daughter of the alleged mastermind of the 2010 Independent Day bombing, Charles Okah, Tarila has alleged that there is a judicial conspiracy to frustrate her father by ensuring his continuous stay in prison.

Appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to pardon her father, Tarila claimed that there has been no compelling evidence against Okah over the last six years that he has spent at the Kuje Prison in Abuja.

In a letter to the President, she alleged that there is a deliberate plot to keep her father in prison, citing an instance when a member of the prosecuting team allegedly travelled abroad for his child’s convocation instead of appearing in court.

The letter reads in part, ”In a recent court sitting, a witness from the Department of State Security (DSS) who introduced himself as a ‘Crime Scene Investigator’ admitted that, “no evidence was collected at the crime scene.

“It is rather unfortunate that several court dates in the course of my father’s trial have been cancelled either because the presiding Trial Judge had a conference to attend or for other reasons that brings disrepute to the Nigerian justice system.

“For instance, the prosecutor Dr. Alex Izinyon, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria failed to attend one of the trials on a date that had been agreed upon beforehand, instead choosing to attend his child’s graduation ceremony abroad.”

Tarila contended that her father is entitled to bail under the constitution having spent six years in detention.

Describing her father as a prisoner of conscience, Tarila urged the President not to limit his anti-grat war to financial crimes alone but extend his tentacles to other areas.

“Mr. President, in your determined quest to fight corruption in Nigeria, I believe that the concept of corruption should be expanded beyond financial crimes. We must also fight corruption in the system, and in this case, the judicial system. We have witnessed the speedy handling of cases involving high profile politicians, but a very sluggish process for others,” she said.

Recall that Okah was first arrested in connection with the 2010 Independent Day bombing on October 16, 2010 on suspicion of being the spokesman of Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, Jomo Gbomo.

Following his arrested Okah has been languishing in prison.

Also Justice Gabriel Kolawole of an Abuja Federal High Court had on two different occasions denied Okah bail.

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BREAKING NEWS 2010 Independence Day Bombing: Suspects Charles Okah, Nwabueze Standing Trial March 7

BREAKING NEWS

2010 Independence Day Bombing: Suspects Charles Okah, Nwabueze, Others Standing Trial March 7

Charles Okah and Obi Nwabueze, the accused standing trial for their alleged involvement in the October 1, 2010 blast, will on March 7, know their fate.

Justice Gabriel Kolawale of the Federal High Court fixed the date for judgment on the terrorism trial after listening to the adoption of final addresses by the prosecuting and defence counsel.

Okah, Nwabueze, Edmund Ebiware and Tiemkemfa Francis-Osvwo (aka General Gbokos) were initially arraigned before the court on December 7, 2010 for their alleged involvement in the bomb blast which left about 12 people dead and several others injured.

Francis-Osvwo later died in prison custody, while Ebiware, who had his trial conducted separately, is serving life sentence upon his conviction in 2013.

When the matter was called, the prosecuting counsel, Mr Alex Izinyon, (SAN) urged the court to convict the defendants as charged since the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that they committed the crime.

The senior lawyer described Okah as a schemer, and the facilitator of the terrorism act of October 1, 2010.

“He is neck, head and toe deep in terrorism act”, he said.

He prayed the court to convict the defendants as charged and sentence them accordingly.

The defence counsel, Mr Emeka Okoroafor and Oghenovo Otemu, however, prayed the court to discharge and acquit their clients on the grounds that the prosecution had failed to prove that they took part in the bombing.

Otemu had tried to convince the court to acquit his client on the grounds the prosecution concealed evidence that was in his client’s favour in the course of the trial.

“My Lord, the second prosecution witness in ‘trial-within-trial’ gave evidence that the 2nd defendant made voluntary statement on August 18, 2010, at the headquarters of the Department of State Security Services, (DSS).

“This was corroborated by the prosecution witness but until now, that statement is not before this court because the prosecution tactically left it out.

“This amounts to concealment of evidence”, Otemu said.

In dismissing the no-case-submission, the court held that the prosecution had established a prima facie case through testimonies of witnesses which linked the defendants with the charges.​

 

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