TheCable

Charles Okah, the alleged mastermind of the 2010 Independence Day bombing, would have committed suicide at the federal high court, Abuja, on Tuesday, were it not for the intervention of security operatives attached to Justice Gabriel Kolawole.

Okah, who is standing trial on charges of terrorism, had sought the permission of the judge to speak on what he termed “endless trial”, as his counsel was absent in court.

The judge granted the oral application and permitted him to speak for about five minutes.

“I have been incarcerated for about five years now and I have a family to cater for,” he lamented.

“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?”

Immediately after he ended his speech, Okah grabbed a chair in the court and quickly advanced towards a window on third floor of the five-storey building in an attempt to jump down. But he was immediately pulled back by security operatives, lawyers and other litigants.

Consequently, Kolawole adjourned the case to October 20 for continuation of trial.

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.

However, Okah and Nwabueze have been facing long trial as a result of the introduction of numerous injunctions from both the prosecution and defence teams.

Earlier in the trial, John Ainetor, Okah’s counsel, had brought an application that the accused was mentally unfit to stand trial. He urged the court to allow a private medical doctor to examine him.

Alex Izinyon, a senior advocate of Nigeria and prosecution counsel, urged the court to dismiss the application, describing it as an abuse of court process. He argued that it was a ploy to delay the suit, which had yet to make any progress since 2010 when it was instituted.

Ruling on the matter in June, Justice Kolawole held that Ainetor’s application was an abuse of court process, so he dismissed it.