The alleged mastermind of the 2010 Independence Day bombing, Charles Okah, was on Tuesday prevented from committing suicide in court by security operatives attached to Justice Gabriel Kolawole at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Okah, a brother to Henry Okah, the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation Niger Delta, MEND, who is standing trial on charges of terrorism, had sought the permission of the judge on Tuesday to speak on what he termed “endless trial”, as his counsel was absent in court.
The judge granted the oral application and permitted Okah to speak for about five minutes.
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 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.
He was however immediately pulled back by security operatives, lawyers and other litigants from jumping, thus forcing Justice Kolawole to adjourn the case to October 20 for continuation of trial.
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