Charles Okah, who is serving a life sentence at the Maximum Security Custodial Centre in Maiduguri for the 2010 Independence Day bombings in Abuja, is preparing to file a N1 billion human rights lawsuit against the Nigerian Correctional Service.
Okah has spent over 190 days in solitary confinement after exposing a syndicate of corrupt prison officers in an open letter to the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji Ojo, in March 2025.
In the letter, he alleged that prison officials were forging warrants to reduce fines, shorten jail terms, and even release inmates in exchange for bribes.
Instead of investigating the allegations, authorities reportedly punished Okah for refusing to retract his claims.
Since March 16, 2025, he has been kept in isolation far beyond the 15 day limit set by the United Nations’ Nelson Mandela Rules on prisoner treatment.
Sources say Okah, who has hypertension and only one kidney, has been denied medical care and exercise.
On August 16, 2025, he reportedly suffered a stroke and was taken to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, where doctors recommended an MRI scan.
However, the NCoS allegedly refused to fund the procedure, leaving him partially paralysed before returning him to solitary confinement.
His family has since petitioned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and is preparing a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, demanding N1 billion in damages.
The case, expected to be handled by a senior lawyer such as Femi Falana (SAN) or Festus Keyamo (SAN), will challenge what Okah’s camp describes as persecution, torture, and unlawful treatment by the NCoS.
