Edmund Ebiware’s Violent Walk To Life Imprisonment

Edmund Ebiware, one of the accomplices of the former MEND leader, Henry Okah, was on Friday sentenced to life imprisonment by a Federal High Court that sat in Abuja, this is coming four days after Henry Okah, who was also accused of masterminding the October 1, 2010 bomb blasts in Abuja was found guilty by a South African court. Ebiware who was arrested by operatives of the State Security Service on the 2nd of October at a hotel in Abuja reacted violently to his conviction.

While delivering his ruling, Justice Gabriel Kolawole who had listened to the testimony of the witnesses as well as seen the exhibits, denounced Ebiware’s attitude and his failure to disclose to the agents of the Nigerian Government that acts of terrorism were being planned.

The judge drew from Section 40 (B) of the Criminal Code Act, which says anybody that becomes an accessory to treason or becomes aware of the commission of treason and fails to give evidence to the President, a State Governor or a law enforcement officer in order to prevent the commission of the crime, is liable to treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. Justice Kolawole said “I concluded that the accused person is adjudged guilty as charged, being aware early in September 2010, that Henry Okah was planning a bomb attack but did not give such information to any of the persons or authority listed in Section 40 (B) of the Criminal Code Act. An enraged Ebiware had a violent encounter with the security operatives at the premises of the court after his conviction yelling on top of his voice in a gesture apparently targeted at the media saying: "my conviction is political after what I have done for this country is this how they will pay me back." After a few of his relatives hugged him in an apparent long time goodbye, the convict struggled with prison guards who were in the court to take him to where he would spend the rest of his life although he will be eligible for parole after serving 32 years of his sentence and is of good behaviour. Henry Okah who was accused of being the mastermind of the blasts was found guilty by a South African court on 13 counts of acts of terrorism and prosecutors say he could be facing a life sentence.