JOHANNESBURG – South African prosecutors brought terrorism charges against Nigerian militant leader Henry Okah at a court in Johannesburg yesterday for a deadly bomb blast in the Nigerian capital.
A lawyer for Okah, who now lives in South Africa, has denied his involvement in the explosion of two car bombs near a parade in Abuja marking Nigeria’s 50th anniversary of independence on Friday, killing at least 12 people and injuring 36, according to police.
Prosecutors charged Okah with conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and the detonation of explosive devices in Abuja.
‘The accused is linked to the bombing that took place in Abuja,’ said Hein Louw, the magistrate overseeing the court proceeding.
Okah, dressed in a yellow checked shirt, was admonished by court officials for slouching in the dock.
His lawyer, Piet du Plessis, told the court that his client was not involved in the bombing and requested for him to be placed in a prison that provides greater guarantees for his safety.
A small terrorist group based outside Nigeria and not militants from the oil-producing Niger Delta carried out last week’s car bomb attacks in Abuja, President Goodluck Jonathan said on Sunday
The attacks were claimed by Nigeria’s main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend).
Security experts believe Okah – who accepted a government amnesty last year after gun-running and treason charges against him were dropped – was at one time the brains behind Mend, although he has denied ever being its leader. – Nampa-Reuters
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