by Lekan Olanrewaju

The Nigerian Prisons Service has denied reports of the death of one of the suspected masterminds of the 1 October, 2010 bomb blast in Abuja, Tiemkenfa Osvwo.

“I am not aware of his death. I don’t know what happened to him,” said Kayode Odeyemi, the Prisons Public Relations Officer. “I just read about it in the newspapers.”
Osvwo was arrested by the State Security Service along with three others for their alleged involvement in the 2010 Independence Day blasts that claimed many lives in Abuja.

Festus Keyamo, Osvwo’s lawyer, had released a statement claiming the suspect died at Kuje Prisons on Saturday following the fumigation of his cell by the prison authorities.
“The sickness leading to the death of Tiemkenfa Francis Osvwo started when their cell was fumigated with a strange substance on January 8, 2012 which affected the health of all the four suspects,” he said. “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.