Pandemonium, As Robbers Escape From Delta High Court Following Death Sentence: Judge, Others Scamper For Safety

Pandemonium broke out Monday in an Asaba High Court in Delta State
when two notorious armed robbers escaped from the court immediately
the trial judge sentenced them to death.
The men had been found guilty of two counts of conspiracy and armed
robbery. It was gathered that it took the strong intervention of two
armed prison guards in the court to re-arrest the convicted armed
robbers.
Court officials confided in our correspondent that immediately the
judge pronounced the death sentence, one of them, identified as Elvis
Agbofodo, escaped and was given a hot chaseby a gallant prison armed
guard into the premises of a church next to the court and shot him in
the leg. The other convict, Frank Okedema, ran in a different
direction before he was apprehended by another prison guard with the
aid of residents of the area.
Eyewitnesses said that court proceedings were disrupted by the escape
attempt and forced the prison guards to embark on sporadic shooting.
The trial judge, court officials, lawyers and other persons in the
area ran for their lives to avoid being hit by flying bullets.
It was learnt that other prison officials who showed up in large
numbers upon receiving distress calls rushed the wounded armed robber
to an undisclosed hospital within the state capital for medical
treatment.
Both convicts, it was gathered, hail from Ekpan community of Uvwie
Local Government. They were reported to have robbed residents of
Ekpan, including one Mrs Omatseye Mercy, of various valuables and sums
of cash in July 2010. They were said to have been chasing a rival
group over a reported N40million royalty paid by an oil company
operating in the area.
The men were also accused of raping, illegal stockpiling of weapons,
and stealing.
Court officials also told our correspondent of a similar incident in
another court in Asaba as two inmates awaiting trial attempted to
escape, suggesting that the efforts were premeditated.