HE SAW DEATH AND LIVED

If Mr. Arthur Judah Angel were called a cat with nine lives, this description would aptly fit him. He was sentenced to death over something he did not do. He waited on death row for long, amid mental torture. His death sentenced was later commuted to 20 years imprisonment. When he completed the sentence, prison warden, who wanted him dead, refused to release him. However, he eventually regained freedom after the intervention of a human rights lawyer.

Indeed, Angle’s miracle happened on August 2, 1994, in Enugu prisons. That day, he was listed, among 39 condemned criminals, for execution. He and other were served what could have been their last meal on earth and they waited for the hour of death.  By a struck of luck or divine intervention, when the executioner called out the names of those to be marched to the gallows, his was missing. And after a total of 18 years in prison, with nine years on death row, he regained freedom.

Born in November 21, 1962, Angel, who hails from Edo State, is a self-trained artist, an author and a life coach. He currently works with Amnesty International as the chairman of the amnesty desk on set free prison inmates.  He is also the founder of a non-governmental organization known as Life Bridge International.

In an interview with Saturday Sun, Angel told his story:

We understand that something happened to you in 1984. Could you recall what happened?

I did not commit the offence that brought about my incarceration. I had gone to visit my friend, Victor, who was arrested by the police in Otuocha Local Government Area in Anambra State.  I was told by the police that my name was mentioned in a case. I challenged it there and then. The police gave me the beating of my life and I was thrown into detention. I was later transferred to Idemili police headquarters, where the torture continued. I was forced to sign a forged statement and later arraigned in court after two weeks in police cell. The court ordered that I should be remanded in prison, while I was awaiting trial.  I was detained for two years before I was sentenced to death.

What was the matter that your name was mentioned?

I did not actually know because by the time I was arraigned in court, I was given nine charges. My problem started as I walked into the police station to see a senior friend.  I was told that there was an order from the Divisional Crime Officer to arrest anyone who ever came to visit him, Victor. He was accused of defrauding some Nigerians, but as my friend, I decided to visit him at the police station. When my mother heard of my arrest, she was asked to pay N10, 000 to secure my bail. She got annoyed and challenged them when she discovered that all those allegations were lies. She insulted the DPO and threatening to get a lawyer. They turned round to charge me for the murder of a policeman. Till the time I was convicted, nobody brought a picture to show the victim that was killed. It was during the military era that cases were handled with little regard for human rights.  Before then, I had spent two years in Onitsha prison awaiting trial.

Finally, they took me to a tribunal with no eyewitness or complainant. The presiding judge got angry and asked them to take me back and do their homework properly.  He threatened to strike out the case if they presented me in-front of him without an eyewitness. They took me and re-arraigned me in another court and I was given a seven-day trial and sentenced to death.  The verdict was: “The accused persons would be hanged to death.”

This was on February 7, 1986. That same day, I was taken to Enugu Prison, where I spent the next nine years on death row, as a condemned prisoner. This was the nine years that I actually went to hell. I witness the death of over 450 people that I can still remember their names.

What happened in those nine years in prison custody?

Three hours after the sentence was passed, we were taken to Enugu Prison, where the warder matched us to the condemned criminal cell block.  The death row has 18 windowless cells, in a row with the gallows at the end of the line. Inmates on death row were singing funeral chorus, which signified that they were ready to die. I got my welcome gift, as a lady was brought in and hanged. I can vividly remember her voice chanting, Abasi nbong before she was strangled to death.  In those days, Mondays to Friday, from 8am to 12 noon, was a waiting period, as this was the time anyone could be called upon and hanged.

I remember those days, during the regime Governor Emeka Omeruah. We were 203 on death row. The governor came into the prison yard one night and took papers of those that were sentenced to death. It was later that we learnt that the judge who was chairman of the tribunal was angry that the number of inmates on death row was increasing and perhaps, complained to the governor. In less than two weeks after the night visit, the number of condemned inmates reduced from 203 to 114. There was a day we witnessed the execution of 54 inmates. I almost lost my mind, but I continually told myself that the only thing I must not lose here is my name and my mind. Finally the Bible came to my rescue.

Before then I practiced different kinds of religion, experimented on different kinds of religion.  Every inmate was desperate for a miracle. Therefore, any group that came with any religion that promises that your soul would be saved was accepted. In fact, there will be so much convert till the next day of execution. Shortly after the execution, inmates would be disappointed and start seeking for another religion.  I was once a member of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star, a Moslem, a Catholic and as many religion that presented itself as our saviour. Despite all these religious groups, I was terrified till I decided to revisit the Bible on my own. It was not the stories in the Old Testament that did the magic but the New Testament.  I gave my life to Christ; that was how I got a turning point and started to live my life like I was not on death row. It was then that I decided to start drawing and writing.  I kept myself busy with painting, writing or reading. I never indulged myself in discussion of people on death row; rather I was either painting, writing or drawing.

Did your talent as an artist suddenly developed in the prison?

I started drawing when I was just a kid. In my childhood days, after rainfall, the kids in the neighbourhood would go gather outside to draw with broomstick on the surface of the sandy soil. In my primary school days, teachers from other classes would always ask my teacher’s permission to have me draw illustrations on their classroom blackboard. During my secondary school days, I taught myself mosaic painting and before long I became perfect.

So when I found myself in jail, I did a lot of paintings that placed food on the plates of many prison warders. Some of them began to sell my work while others were getting job orders for me. At a particular point in time, my work got into the hands of Professor Obiorah Ikeh, who was the Director General of Catholic Institute for Development, Justice and Peace (CIDJAB).  He fell in love with my job and began to look for me. He could not trace me, since I was still in the prison yard. Miraculously, he led a group from Germany to Enugu Prisons. Those days, my works had become a valuable product that anytime they were to receive visitors, they would come to me for paintings. When Professor Ikeh was given my artwork. He demanded to know the source. The Deputy Comptroller, for fear that the man might reject the work, told him that the artist was alive but not within reach. He insisted and was later told that I was a condemned criminal.  He wept when he finally met me and promised to help me escape death. He was at the Government House on several occasions to plead for pardon on my behalf.

In 1993, he arranged with the British Council in Enugu to organise six days art exhibition. The British Council gave it enough publicity, and the papers began to write about the talent that was wasting in the prison. On the 6th day, people that came for the exhibition were not contented watching the artworks again. They demanded to see the artist. The exhibition was brought into the prison and tagged ‘prisoners’ awareness week.’ It was not enough to convince the governor to grant me pardon but it made a statement as I was launched into the limelight.

Shortly after the second exhibition in 1994, the governor, Colonel Mike Attah, signed my execution paper. By that time, I had exhausted all my chances of appeal and was at the mercy of the governor.  I knew that my time was near but no one knew exactly when that would happen. On July 30, 1994, the warder marched into the prison corridor, which signified that there was going to be an execution in four days. My prison cell door was opened and I was chained.

How did you feel when you knew that the time had come?

The four days that I was prepared for execution was four days in hell. Although I had given my life to Christ, I was terrified.  I dreaded nightfall because I knew that the time was drawing nigh. On the fourth day, the warders came and served me my last meal. I knew I had about four hours to meet my maker. I wanted to pray but couldn’t pray. I couldn’t have enough strength to pick my Bible. I challenged God and he gave me a portion in the Bible that killed the fear and confusion. I was singing praises till the army came and called out names and it was discovered that my name had disappeared in the list. They checked their record, Sheriff’s list and the court’s list and my name was not there. It remains a mystery how my name was deleted from the list. The army left with the 38 inmates that were on the list.

When the news of my near death got to the outside world every other concerned citizen began to solicit on my behalf.  They pleaded that the governor should not allow a man as talented as I am to be killed. In 1995, the governor granted me a conditional pardon. My sentence was commuted and I was given 20 years to serve from the day of the detention.  After I had exhausted my sentence, the prison authority refused to set me free. This was how Barrister Olisa Agbakoba came into my matter.  I began to write several letters to him and he was interested. Unfortunately, General Sani Abacha arrested him and brought him to the same prison that I was kept.  He asked me to pray for his freedom and God, in his infinite mercy, answered and Abacha died. True to his words, Barrister Agbakoba took up my case and two years later, he got judgment and the prison authority was ordered to set me free.

When the prison gates were opened, what was your initial reaction?

My freedom was long overdue because I was denied freedom seven times. I was excited when the prison door of Uyo was opened and I was asked to go home. In the company of friend who visited the prison that day, I slept in Uyo. The next day, I travelled to Enugu through Aba. When I was finally reunited with my mother and sister, we shed tears of joy and for the next two weeks my mother never allowed me to step out of the house.  They were shocked to realise that I was ready to face the world. I came out with a lot of drawings and sketches.

I called Barrister Agbakoba and he said I should come to Lagos.  His name opened a door; that was how I started to sharpen my talents.  I travelled across the globe attending one art exhibition or the other.  I was advised to return back to Nigeria, where   I met a lady who sponsored an art exhibition in Ikoyi for weeks. This was how I met the organisers of Amnesty International and they contracted me to work for them. I was given an assignment to tour all the prisons in Nigeria.

What were some of the ills that you witnessed in prison?

The moment you have a case, you will have two complainants, the warder and the original complainant. There were lynching of fellow inmates by prison warders, even the prison warders killed them, and framed them up. I witnessed the poisoning of an inmate by a warder. Food that was meant to be given to inmates were diverted and sold.  Soon after Abacha died, General Abdulsalami Abubakar made sure that he visited the prisons and took the exact number of inmates and supplies needed. Those materials were sold. This explains why any heath challenge in the prison only gets Paracetamol. If they give you antibiotics then you are a big boy. They used to bribe me with a packet of Tetmosol so that I will not talk because I will always write and the media houses would get it. If the authority gets any information that such story is with any media house, they will kill the story. How they manage to do it remains a mystery. There was a time that I raised alarm that warders had formed a cult group in the prison. It was only Vanguard newspaper that later reported the story.

How could prison warders have formed and operated a cult group?

It is the truth. They formed a cult group and did initiation of its members. They had a way of forcing inmates to join them. It was either you joined them or you would die of hunger. Those people who were their boys looked so fresh. My saving grace, at a point in time, was that I was a self-feeder.  I was developing bronchitis and on medical advice, I was allowed to bring in my own food. I had enough money, which I saved through the sale of my artworks. 

These ills you talked about happened during the military era. Did anything change as soon as a democratically elected government came on board?

Life eased up a bit because, those human rights abuses could no longer continue with impunity. It was during those days that we were able to introduce the wearing of trousers and plain clothes by inmates.

Investigation shows that most armed robbers always regroup from the prison. Was there any form of reformation programme during your time?

Every hardened criminal that comes out of prison as a changed person must be seen as an act of God. For instance Port Harcourt Prison is the largest in the whole of West Africa. It locks more than all the prison inmates in Lagos. That same Port Harcourt Prison has no single workshop, where prisoners can be taught any skill or craft. People only go in there to preach. You will agree with me that too much of preaching is boring. Today, we have some wonderful deputy comptrollers. I was in Owerri Prison and if I am allowed, the man that is the comptroller should be made the comptroller general. People outside take their clothes to the prison for laundry and this man made sure that he saved every kobo for the inmates. The prison in Ikoyi and Kirikiri are showroom prisons. Go to Shagamu Prison, Ahoda Prison, and Port Harcourt Prison and you will weep. In Port Harcourt Prison, the workers have more than they can handle.

What are you doing at the moment?

Apart from my artwork, I established an NGO, Life Bridge International foundation. Our major aim is the fight for the abolition of capital punishment. I witnessed the execution of people who were innocent. If I had died on death row, nobody would talk about my innocence.  God spared me to come and stand in the gap for innocent.  Most hardened criminals do not die in prison. They pay their way out. The man that I went to visit at the police station was never arraigned in the court.

I hope to fashion out a way to convince government to abolish capital punishment. I am actually planning to establish what they call the ‘good man home’ across the country.  This involves planting homes inside the prison that will help the prisoners discover themselves and prepare for the outside world. By the time a man serves two third of his terms, the remaining one third should be used to package and prepare him for the outside world. This home will allow him to work and interact with the outside world. It happens in advanced countries.

What are some of the challenges that you have encountered in the prison ministry?

The major challenges are with the public who find it difficult to support the prison ministry. People are scared that their resources or donations would enter into the wrong hands. Our people are still seeing prisons as a punitive camp. Secondly, most of the prison officers are not trained for the job; it is all about exploiting inmates and their families. If Nigerians can give half of what they invest in football, our prisons will be a corrective institution as it should be. 

Any word of advice to government on how to get it right?

Government should realise that the assessment of how a nation is working is in the state of its prison.  Government should think beyond the office of the comptroller general. It is not only the inmates that need to be reformed; even prison staff do. In some prisons, some inmates look better than the warder, both spiritually and physically. The warders are not well fed.

We hear rumour of sexual abuse, especially among men in prison. How true is that?

It is not true, but anyone who dares to rape a fellow inmate will be punished.  Sex between inmates are with their consent. The only problem is that some inmates use their body in exchange for good food. In the prison, it is only the elite that get good portion and of high standard. The big boys do not need to stoop that low because they are entitled to invite their female friends for conjugal visit. If you have what it takes to pay for the office of the chief warder, he will excuse you to enjoy yourself with your female friend.