Oct 1 bombings: Charles Okah sues prison authorities

Charles Tombra Okah currently in the custody at the Kuje Prison, Abuja, for his alleged involvement in the October 1, 2010 multiple bomb blasts in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has sued the  Nigerian Prisons authourities over an alleged inhuman treatment meted out to him by Prison officers.

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In a suit No: CV/1107/14 filed by his counsel, Mr Festus Keyamo, the plaintiff prayed the court for an order restraining the officers of Kuje Prisons  from administering a drug called Epilim Sodium Viproate, (ESV), primarily used for the ailment of epilepsy, and any other harmful drug on him as he is not epileptic and had no history of epilepsy.

Joined as defendants in the suit are  the Minister of Interior, the Comptroller General of Prisons and the Nigerian Prisons Service.
Okah also wants the court to declare that the administration of the Epilim Sodium Viproate, drug on him by the prison  officers amounts to a breach of his right to life and dignity, as guaranteed by Sections 33 (1)and 34 (1) (a) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, (as amended).
 He also wants the court to declare that the prison authourities violated his fundamental human rights, by denying him access to medication for the treatment of his hypertension and high blood pressure.
Okah further prayed the court for an order awarding N500 million as damages against the defendants, for the actions of the officers of Kuje Prisons, in breach of his fundamental rights to life and dignity as guaranteed by Sections 33 (1) and 34 (1) (a) of the 1999 Constitution.
The plaintiff also prayed the court to order the Kuje prison officers to allow him access to proper medication as and when due.
In a 43-page statement of claims attached with the suit, the plaintiff averred that he was arrested sometime in 2010, for alleged criminal offences, charged to a Federal High Court, Abuja and has since then been remanded in Kuje Prisons, Abuja pending the outcome of his trial.
He averred that he is merely an accused person, and not a convict of any criminal offence and as such, entitled to the protection of his fundamental human rights as guaranteed by the constitution of Nigeria.
The case has been assigned to Justice A.S Adepoju of FCT High Court No. 31, Kuje and is slated for hearing on 12th of May, 2014.
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