A 50-year-old murder suspect, Bethlehem Nwanlia, threw the Bayelsa State High Court into panic on Tuesday when he slumped and died while awaiting final judgment in the case of conspiracy, kidnapping and multiple murders.
Nwanlia, 32-year-old Gideon Atama and Clever Ovo were arrested by police operatives attached to Operation Puff Adder, now known as the Violent Crime Response Unit, headed by CSP Chris Nwaogbo for the 2022 murders of Odeinyefa Ogbolosingha (an in-law to Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri), Paramount Ruler Kolibo Francis Amabelimo, and Samuel Oburo in Kalaba community, Yenagoa Local Government Area.
According to prison sources, Nwanlia was reported to have developed strange ailments, including high blood pressure and stroke, while at the Medium Correctional Prison at Okaka.
Eyewitnesses at the court stated that, following the announcement by the court clerk that the final judgment in the case had been adjourned to 27 October 2026, due to the absence of the judge, Nwanlia clutched his chest and slumped.
It was gathered that efforts to revive him proved abortive, leaving men of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), the police and lawyers at court stunned over the development.