Goodluck Jonathan Is Responsible For My Ordeal – Charles Okah

 

The trial of Charles Okah at the Justice Gabriel Kolawole-led Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday, October 20, had a new face as the trial judge turned down the request put forward by the federal government to get him chained.

Charles is the alleged mastermind of the 2010 Independence Day bomb blast that killed twelve persons at the Eagle Square in Abuja.

The alleged mastermind is a younger brother to ex-leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Henry Okah, who had since been convicted by a South African Court.

He is facing terrorism charges alongside one Obi Nwabueze Okah, Vanguard reports.

The federal government had made the application on Tuesday through its lead prosecutor, Alex Iziyon (SAN), but was refused at the court.

It was reported that Charles who had addressed the judge from the dock, expressed his frustration over what he described as his ‘endless trial’.

He complained bitterly over the continued absence of his lawyer in court.

Okah had insisted that former President Goodluck Jonathan should be blamed for his travails.

As he cried, the emotional Okah said that his life had been put on hold saying that he was a victim of a highly dysfunctional criminal justice system.

He 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. ‎I am tired of this endless trial.”

After his address, Okah attempted to commit suicide while his trial was going on.

He tried jumping down from a window in the courtroom ‎which is situated in the third floor of the high court complex.

‎It was on that basis that prompted the counsel to the federal government to make an oral application before the court, requesting that Okah be chained in view of his action at the last adjourned date.

Citing section 269 of the newly enacted Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, the prosecuting counsel said: “Where a defendant or an accused person misbehaves or misconduct in the course of proceedings, such a person can be placed under fetters.”

Iziton told the court to always put junior Okah in chains throughout the period of the trial.

But the defence counsel to Okah, Samuel Ozidiri, apologized to the court on behalf of his client stressing that the trial justice should not recognize the application from the federal government over placing him on fetter.

Ozidiri stressed that the application was not only premature but also against the ethos of human rights and principles of fair trial.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Supreme Court on Tuesday, October 20, upheld the election of Akinwunmi Ambode who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the Lagos state governor.