Charles Okah, the alleged mastermind of the 2010 Independence Day bombing, has alleged that former President Goodluck Jonathan wanted him to implicate ex-Military Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, IBB, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and founder of African Independent Television, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi.
Okah, who is standing trial for charges bordering on terrorism before an Abuja Federal High Court, insisted that Jonathan implicated him for failing to do his biddings.
The Department of State Services, DSS, had on 16 October 2010 arrested Okah alongside his son at his residence in Lagos for alleged terrorism and treason in relation to the Independence Day bombing.
Following his arrest, Okah said, they were flown to the DSS Headquarters in Abuja.
He said, “Just before midnight of 17 October 2010, heavily armed hooded DSS operatives burst into my cell and took me blindfolded to an outside location with the aim of trying to intimidate me into believing I was going to be summarily executed. On Monday, October 18, at about 12 noon, I was brought out of my cell to be interrogated for the first time.
Disclosing that interrogators were very friendly and respectful to them in Abuja, Okah claimed they explained to him that he was not their target, but were only seeking his support for “my South-South brother, Goodluck Jonathan” which was to implicate General Babangida (Retd.), who was perceived to be running against Jonathan for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket, Saharareporters said.
He claimed that his interrogators made him lucrative contract offers and freedom for him and his son in exchange for false testimony that would suggest that his visit to the Abuja residence of General Babangida around March 2010 was when and where they plotted to assassinate ex-President Jonathan through car bombs during the 2010 Independence Day celebration at the Eagle Square.
Okah alleged that he was also requested to name, as “co-conspirators, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, Mr. Nasir El-Rufai and his younger brother, Henry” but he refused the offers, this led to him been taken back to his cell and asked to “think it over.”
“The plot to implicate me by the government was as a result of my refusal to do the bidding of former President Jonathan to implicate Mr. Nasir El-Rufai and General Babangida,” he said.
Comentários