» Independence Day Bomb Blasts Suspect, Okah, On ‘Hunger Strike’ «

One of the suspects in the 2010 Independence Day bomb
blasts in Abuja, Charles Okah, has embarked on a hunger
strike to protest alleged harassment by officials of the Kuje
Prison.
Apart from embarking on hunger strike, Mr. Okah, who has
been in Kuje Prison since 2010, has threatened to file a
suit demanding N5 billion damages from the Federal
Government.
The threat is contained in a letter written by his counsel,
Timi Okponipere, dated January 21, and addressed to the
Minister of Interior, Abdulraman Dambazau.
The legal practitioner alleged that the officer in charge of
the Kuje Prison, Musa Tanko, has persistently harassed
and intimidated his client.
“At the time of writing this letter, our client is as
emaciated as a bean pole on account of the hunger strike
he has embarked upon, to draw global attention to his
plight,” the lawyer wrote.
“Literarily and figuratively speaking, our client is virtually a
dead man. If our client dies in prison custody, the entire
world, particularly the Ijaw nation and the Niger Delta
where our client hails from, shall rise in unison against
President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, even as we
concede the fact that, our client’s ordeal began during the
tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan, a fellow
Ijaw.”
Mr. Okponipere said some prison officials on January 6, at
about 7am, gained entry into Mr. Okah’s cell and carted
away his books, journals and manuscripts.
He said the invasion of his client’s cell was based on the
orders of the head of the Kuje Prison, Musa Tanko.
According to him, one of the seized manuscripts contained
his prison memoirs, consisting of writings, drawings and
sketches of his prison journey.
However, he said another manuscript titled “Research
Study: Security Lapses and Vice in Kuje Prison,” carried
detailed report exposing security lapses, illicit sex,
indiscipline, corruption and other vices thriving such as
prison warders’ involvement in drug trafficking.
“Our client was to submit the report to the honourable
minister of interior, the national security adviser, NSA, as
well as the director general of the State Security Service,
SSS, before the unfortunate incident occurred,” the lawyer
wrote.
“Specifically, on January 10, when the honourable minister
of interior visited the prison, in company of the director
general, State Security Service, SSS, our client approached
the minister and conveyed his intention to forward a draft
copy of the research study to his (minister) office for
necessary action.
“Secondly Sir, following our client’s bold initiative to
approach the minister of interior during his visit to the
prison, our client has been kept in solitary confinement
within the Prison Service since January 10, 2016 by Mr.
Tanko and his officers, ostensibly as a punitive, vindictive
and malicious measure, to force our client to back down
from his avowed determination to expose the ongoing rot
in the prison.”