It was the second bail application anchored on health grounds which Okoyomon has lost at the Court of Appeal since Justice Evoh Chukwu of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered his extradition to the United Kingdom to face criminal charges in a judgment delivered on May 4, 2015. Justice Valentine Ashi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory had also dismissed Okoyomon’s bail application which he filed after the Court of Appeal rejected the first one. In a unanimous ruling on Thursday, a three-man bench of the Court of Appeal dismissed his fresh bail application for lacking in merit. Justice Mohammed Mustapha, who read the lead decision, held that Okoyomon did not provide sufficient evidence to back his application. He noted that the evidence filed in support of the bail application hinged on his deteriorating health, did not present any special circumstance that could warrant the grant of bail. Okoyomon’s lawyer, Alex Iziyon (SAN) had presented medical report issued by the Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja to support his claim that his client suffered from deteriorating health requiring him to be granted bail to enable him attend to his health. Justice Mustapha upheld the argument by state’s lawyer, Muslim Hassan, to the effect that his ailment was not beyond what could be treated in the country with health facilities provided by the nation’s prison authorities. The judge said it was wrong to create the impression that the responsibility of catering for the health needs of prison inmates was not that of the prison authorities. He noted that since it was the prison authorities that took the applicant to hospital, where the medical report was issued, there was nothing wrong in the same prison authorities continuing in that regard. He ruled, “If the prison authorities saw the reason to take him to the hospital, we did not see the reason why they should not continue to do so. It is the responsibility of the prison authorities to cater for the health need of prison inmates as they have the responsibility of feeding them. “The prison authorities cannot shift its responsibility of providing medical care for sick inmates as it also cannot run away from providing food and other needs for the inmates. “The evidence as contained in exhibits ‘D’ and ‘E’ (letter of his referral to the Asokoro Hospital and the medical report) are not enough to warrant the exercise of the court’s discretion to grant the applicant bail. “The application for bail is therefore, refused without much ado.” No date is fixed yet for the hearing of the appeal.]]>