Tarila Okah, the daughter of the suspected
mastermind of the 2010 Independence Day
bombing, Charles Okah, has written an open
letter to President Buhari. In the letter, Tarila
accused the judiciary of frustrating her father's
trial as the presiding judge or the prosecuting
counsels are always absent whenever he is to
appear in court. Tarila, who says she will be
getting married in the next few weeks,
expressed sadness that her Dad will not be
there to walk her down the aisle and share in
her joy. She prevailed on President Buhari to
look into her father's case. Full text of her
letter after the cut...
Your Excellency,
His Excellency,
President Muhammadu Buhari
President, Commander-in-Chief
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Dear President Buhari,
I hope this letter reaches you in good health. My
name is Tarila Okah, daughter of Mr. Charles
Okah, who is currently remanded at Kuje Prison
and standing trial before Hon. Justice Gabriel
Kolawole at the Federal High Court in Abuja over
the 2010 Independence Day bomb incident.
Mr. President, I am writing this letter principally
to draw your attention, the entire people of
Nigeria, and members of the international
community to what I perceive as injustice being
wilfully and maliciously meted to my father by the
Nigerian state. Within the last 10 months,
disturbing media reports about his attempt to
commit suicide at the Federal High Court in Abuja
on October 6, 2015 and his failing health are sad
reminders of the harsh reality of my father’s
frustration with the judicial system in Nigeria,
which is notorious for elastic trials that can drag
on for years on end and wear out all parties. It is
rather unfortunate that several court dates in the
course of my father’s trial have been cancelled
either because the presiding Trial Judge had a
conference to attend or for other reasons that
brings disrepute to the Nigerian justice system.
For instance, the Prosecutor Dr. Alex Izinyon, a
Senior Advocate of Nigeria failed to attend one of
the trials on a date that had been agreed upon
beforehand, instead choosing to attend his child’s
graduation ceremony abroad.
With all due respect, Mr. President, no democratic
Government anywhere in the world, including
Canada where I currently reside, would treat a
prisoner’s attempt at suicide as well as the
prisoner’s failing health, with disdain. Such a
peculiar prisoner’s case ought to be concluded
speedily by the Judiciary. Alternatively, such a
Prisoner of Conscience as my father, should be
granted bail. However, from all indications, the
Nigerian Government is clearly insensitive to his
plight.
Your Excellency, I have consulted with several
Nigerian lawyers who have sufficiently educated
me that, pursuant to Section 162 of the new
Criminal Justice Administration Law in the
country, my father is entitled to bail; having spent
more than 3 years in prison custody.
Nevertheless, Hon. Justice Gabriel Kolawole has
on two previous occasions overruled my father’s
applications for bail. However, the pace of the
trial has still not been picked up. Meanwhile,
Justice Kolawole in 2011 easily granted bail to
Senator Ali Ndume who was standing trial for
terrorism as an alleged sponsor of Boko Haram.
Today, after being re-elected on the platform of
your party, the All Progressives Congress (APC),
Senator Ndume is the Majority Leader of Nigeria’s
upper legislative chamber, the Senate, while my
father (who is equally as important to society) is
still languishing in prison as an inmate awaiting
trial; almost 6 years after he was first arrested on
October 16, 2010 on suspicion of being “JOMO
GBOMO,” the spokesman for the Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
Interestingly, Nigerian media perception about my
father’s culpability in the Independence Day bomb
incident keeps changing. At first, he was accused
of being the spokesperson of MEND. Later, he
was described as an accomplice to the alleged
crime; after the media and the Nigerian
Government realised that ‘Jomo Gbomo’ was still
releasing statements on behalf of MEND, even as
my father was firmly held in custody! Now he is
accused of being the mastermind.
Thus far, the prosecution has relied heavily on
‘witnesses’, all of whom have contradicted their
statements under cross examination. In a recent
court sitting, a witness from the Department of
State Security (DSS) who introduced himself as a
‘Crime Scene Investigator’ admitted that, “no
evidence was collected at the crime scene”. While
another witness who supposedly ‘sold’ a Mazda
car to the 2nd Defendant, admitted under cross-
examination that, the very first time he set his
eyes on the said Mazda car (Exhibit 2) was “at the
premises of the DSS Abuja Headquarters.”
Without prejudice to his ongoing trial before Hon.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole, I honestly believe that
my father is innocent of the crimes alleged
against him. Over the 6 year period of his
incarceration and trial, his businesses which
employed many Nigerians have collapsed; his
family is in disarray. Years apart, especially under
such circumstances, often dissolves the
emotional bonds between a husband and his wife,
and for my much younger siblings who have now
spent more time without their father, there are
virtually no emotional bonds to be dissolved.
On a more personal note, I will be getting married
in a few weeks; albeit without the privilege of
having my beloved father walk me down the aisle
– the dream of every daughter. I feel an
admixture of joy and pain as this day approaches
knowing that my father is alive but held
somewhere unjustly. Clearly, my siblings and I are
being punished vicariously by the Nigerian state
over crimes allegedly committed by our father
which have not been proven beyond reasonable
doubt by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Unfortunately, in Nigeria, the mere act of filing
even trumped-up charges carries along with it a
strong presumption of guilt, which has led to my
father’s conviction in the court of public opinion
and has also led to the abuse of his fundamental
human rights. I know that some Nigerians, on
reading this open letter, will attack me for daring
to appeal for my father’s freedom. But my
message to those compatriots is simple: it is high
time we focused on finding the real perpetrators.
Finally, Mr. President, in your determined quest to
fight corruption in Nigeria, I believe that the
concept of corruption should be expanded
beyond financial crimes. We must also fight
corruption in the system, and in this case, the
judicial system. We have witnessed the speedy
handling of cases involving high profile
politicians, but a very sluggish process for
others. The joy of my upcoming marriage plus the
pain of a missing father (who is alive) equates to
the simple plea: #PLEASEFREECHARLESOKAH!
cc lalasticlala
seun


Source
http://www.dianaplay.com/2016/07/tarila-
daughter-of-suspected-mastermind.html?m=1

CHAI! NIGERIAN PRISON BAD! SEE FRESH HENRY OKAH HAS SO EMACIATED!!

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Chosen1984:
CHAI! NIGERIAN PRISON BAD! SEE FRESH HENRY OKAH HAS SO EMACIATED!!

Bros prison na prison Noting like freedom sir