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| Controller-General of Prisons, Mr. Zakari Ibrahim |
Nigerian
Prisons Service has denied reports of the death of one of the
suspected masterminds of the October 1, 2010 bomb blast in Abuja,
Tiemkenfa Osvwo (aka General Gbokos).
The Prisons Public Relations Officer, Kayode Odeyemi, said he read about Osvwo’s death in the newspapers like everyone.
“I am not aware of his death, I don’t
know what happened to him; I just read about it in the newspapers,” he
told our correspondent on telephone on Sunday.
Osvwo was arrested by the State Security
Service along with three others for their alleged involvement in the
October 1, 2010 blasts that claimed many lives in Abuja.
A statement by Osvwo’s lawyer, Festus
Keyamo, had claimed the suspect died at Kuje Prisons on Saturday
following the fumigation of his cell by the prison authorities, alleging
that he was murdered.
He also alleged that other accused
persons in the bombing still in Kuje Prisons were re facing similar
conditions that claimed Osvwo’s life.
Keyamo claimed that Osvwo’s death was the result of the maltreatment meted out to the accused persons in prison.
He said, “The sickness leading to the
death of Tiemkenfa Francis Osvwo started when their cell was fumigated
with a strange substance on the January 8, 2012, which affected the
health of all the four suspects. Suffice it to reiterate that we, their
solicitors raised the alarm about that development at the time.
“Prior to his death in custody, Gbokos
had been urinating and defecating on himself in the prison and despite
pleas by his solicitors requesting that he be treated properly, no one
attended to him.
The SSS could not be reached for
comments on how Osvwe’s death would affect the trial of the other
suspects as its spokesperson, Marilyn Ogar, did not respond to our
correspondent’s telephone calls.
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