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2010 Independence Day Bombing: Speed Up Release Of Jailed Ebiware Granted Presidential Pardon, Group Tells Buhari, Others
A group under the aegis of the Advocates of Peace and Harmony in Niger Delta, on Tuesday, called on President Muhammadu Buhari, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Interior to expedite action on the presidential pardon granted to Mr Edmund Ebiware and 158 others to enable them to walk out of prison as free men.
According to the group, the call became necessary due to the delay in their release as it is over 70 days since their pardon was pronounced by the Nigerian government after due consultation with the National Council of State.
This was disclosed in a statement jointly signed by the Convener of the group, Prince Peres Ogbogbo, and its Secretary, Comrade Taribolou Asamowei.
The group recalled that on April 14, 2022, the Nigerian government announced clemency for some prison inmates, including ‘one of our brothers’, Edmund Ebiware.
The group, therefore, called on Buhari and other relevant persons to speed up the process so that Ebiware can regain her freedom.
The statement read, “We use this medium to call on President Muhammad Buhari to direct the relevant agencies involved in their release to fast-track it to enable our brother enjoy his freedom.
“Edmund Ebiware’s health is failing and needs serious medical attention, hence we appeal that his freedom should be expedited so as to enable him get quality medical attention.
“We express our profound appreciation to President Buhari for his magnanimity and also our illustrious son, Chief Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum for the critical role he played to ensure that Edmund Ebiware is a beneficiary.
“On a final note, we urge President Buhari to critically look into this matter so as to direct the relevant agencies to smoothen the processes to enable Edmund Ebiware and others walk out of jail as free men to rejoin their loved ones, families and friends.”
In January 2013, Ebiware was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by a Federal High Court in Abuja over October 1, 2010, Independence Day bomb blasts that killed 12 persons.
The trial judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole sentenced Ebiware after he was found guilty on the three counts preferred against him by the Nigerian government.
According to the court, Ebiware knew that the convicted erstwhile leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, Mr. Henry Okah, planned to detonate bombs in Abuja but did not warn the relevant authorities.
Ebiware’s wife, Ify in July 2017 called on the Buhari government to release her husband, insisting he did not commit any offence.
However, Ebiware was pardoned in April 2022, along with 158 others including former governors of Plateau and Taraba states, Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame respectively, who were jailed for stealing state funds.
