Okah: I was quarantined for Lassa Fever during Kuje jailbreak
The two inmates who escaped from the Kuje Maximum Prison at about 7: 30pm last Friday are still at large.
The inmates are Awaiting Trial for culpable homicide, according to Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) spokesman Francis Enobore.
Apart from the intelligence network of the NPS, Enobore said sister agencies like the Department of State Service (DSS), the police, military, Immigrations and Civil Defence, have been searching for the prisoners.
Enobore said Controller General (CG) of Prisons, Ahmed Ja’ faru will meet with top management of the NPS today at the headquarters to decide when names and photographs of the prisoners who escaped would be made public.
The meeting will also decide on punishment for any officer found wanting.
It was learnt that Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) Controller of Prisons, Daniel Ehindero, had ordered the detention of two officers on duty during the incident.
Ehindero said: “After the investigation report is submitted to the CG, his action we serve as an example to others. We have our rules of engagement. Our Standing Orders is like our holy book. Every prison officer is supposed to abide by every word in the Standing Orders.
There was tight security at the Kuje prison yesterday. Military men were part of the security deployed.
One of the suspects on trial over the October 1, 2010 bomb explosion in Abuja, Charles Okah, yesterday denied involvement in the Friday jailbreak at the Kuje Maximum Security Prison in Abuja.
He said he was quarantined in an isolation room within the Kuje Prison Clinic for a suspected Lassa fever infection.
He, however, pleaded with Justice Gabriel Kolawole to speedily determine his case; which has dragged on for nearly seven years.
He said he is willing to assist in averting crisis in Niger Delta if he regains freedom.
Charles is a brother of the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), Henry Okah, who is also in detention in South Africa.
He is being tried for alleged complicity in the two explosions that hit the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on October 1, 2010 during Nigeria’s 50th Independence celebration.
But following a jailbreak at the prison on Friday, he was initially listed as one of the inmates who escaped.
In a statement through his counsel yesterday, Timipa Jenkins Okponipere, he said he had nothing to do with the jailbtreak.
The statement said: “It took almost 24 hours for the inmates and prison authority to realise that our client had not escaped from the prison. Our client has further instructed us to notify all Nigerians and the international community that, God willing, and without prejudice to his ongoing trial, he shall triumphantly walk out of the Kuje Prison gates as a free and vindicated man.
“He has already set his sights, upon his release, on working assiduously with the current administration to bring stability to the Niger Delta region. He is however using this opportunity to appeal to the Judiciary, particularly, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, to speedily determine his case; which has dragged on for nearly 7 years.
“Our client has further and better instructed us to notify his kith and kin in the Niger Delta region to give maximum support to the Aaron Team 2; a peace initiative of MEND which is aimed at dialogue with the Federal Government on the immediate, medium and long-term future of the region. He is also appealing to militant groups in the region to stop the attacks on oil installations and desist from being used by disgruntled, corrupt and selfish politicians.”