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Nigeria

Ex-rebel held in South Africa over Abuja bombing

A former rebel group leader Henry Okah, arrested after the independence day blasts in the Nigerian capital, will remain in custody until a hearing next week.

Reuters
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Okah was charged in Johannesburg on Monday morning with conspiracy to commit terrorism and the detonation of a bomb in the Nigerian capital Abuja. Okah, the former head of the Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) was arrested by South African police on Saturday.

His arrest followed the twin car bombs that killed a dozen people during celebrations marking Nigeria’s 50th anniversary of independence. Okah’s court appearance in Johannesburg came as South Africa’s International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoane-Mashebane was telling the pan-African parliament a few kilometres away that no African country should offer shelter to terrorists.

Nkoane-Mashebane added that South Africa will continue to accept genuine political asylum seekers. Rwanda is currently at loggerheads with Pretoria for sheltering Rwandan ex-general Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa who is wanted in Kigali in connection with a series of bomb blasts. Okah came to South Africa last year after being freed by the Nigerian authorities as part of their amnesty with MEND.

MEND has claimed responsibility for the car bombs in Abuja and Johannesburg’s magistrate Hein Louw told the court this morning that Okah is linked to the bombings.

However, Okah’s lawyers in South Africa deny his involvement in the blasts and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan blamed a small terror movement based outside Nigeria.

In court, the Nigerian former rebel was scolded by court officials for slouching in the dock. His lawyer Piet Du Plessis asked for Okah to be moved to a safer prison
 

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