Henry Okah and President Goodluck Jonathan
Detained
leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Mr.
Henry Okah, has insisted that President Goodluck Jonathan’s agents
sponsored the March 15, 2010 and October 1, 2010 bombings in Warri and
Abuja respectively for political considerations.
Okah made the allegation
in a 194-paragraph affidavit deposed to in the South Gauteng High court
in Johannesburg, South Africa in Case No: A570/10.
The allegations first came to light in an interview Okah granted Arabic satellite television, Aljazeera,
in October 2010, weeks after the blast. In the interview, he blamed the
attacks on Jonathan’s aides and claimed he was arrested for refusing to
influence MEND, to retract its claim of responsibility.
Since then, Okah has
been denied bail at least twice, with one at the South Gauteng High
Court, Johannesburg, where he is filing a new application for bail based
on “new facts.”
The sworn affidavit was
expected to be filed at the court between Tuesday and Wednesday as part
of his renewed bid to secure bail, after spending more than one year in a
South African jail.
His trial is set to
start on October 1, 2012, exactly two years after a devastating blast
that occurred less than a kilometre from the Eagle Square in Abuja,
where Jonathan was attending Nigeria’s 50th anniversary.
He said the March 2010
car bomb blast (which he said occurred on March 14, 2010) at the
Government House Annex, Warri, where South-South governors were
attending an amnesty meeting, was intended to pave the way for the
removal of Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, and his replacement
by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe.
“It is my belief that
President Goodluck Jonathan’s government working with a faction of MEND
planned and executed the bombings of 14 March 2010 and 1 October 2010.
“The purpose of the 14
March 2010 bombing in my opinion was to create an atmosphere of
insecurity in Niger Delta where President Goodluck Jonathan at that
time, was fighting to oust the governor Mr. Emmanuel Uduaghan whom
President Goodluck Jonathan intended to replace with his Minister for
Niger Delta, Mr Godsday Orubebe,” Okah said in the affidavit.
On the Independence Day
bombing, which claimed 10 lives, Okah said it was meant to sway public
opinion against the North and some of its leaders who were planning to
run against Jonathan in the April 2011 presidential election.
Okah has been held at
the Johannesburg Prison since October 2, 2010, and is currently standing
trial for alleged involvement in the October 1 bomb attack.
He alleged that Jonathan
was upset when MEND claimed responsibility for the October 1 attack,
against a plan to blame it on Northern elements.
He stated, “The bombings
of 1 October 2010 were also intended by President Goodluck Jonathan
government to create anti-North sentiments nationwide in order to
galvanize support from other sections of Nigeria against other Northern
candidates in the Presidential election.
“Under the arrangement,
MEND, I believe, was not to claim responsibility for the bombings which
the Nigerian government hoped to pin on General Babangida and other
Northern elements. The claim of responsibility by the central group for a
bombing, possibly carried out by a faction of MEND, punctured the plans
of President Goodluck Jonathan to round up his opposition and hold them
in custody until after the elections.”
He claimed to have come
under pressure from some of Jonathan’s aides to get MEND to retract its
claim of responsibility for the bombing, recalling that his “refusal to
cooperate in this scheme resulted in President Goodluck Jonathan placing
a call to President Jacob Zuma during the evening of 1 October 2010,
requesting President Zuma’s personal assistance in securing my arrest.
My noncooperation was interpreted by President Goodluck Jonathan as
support for the Northern politicians.
“The South African Government’s direct interference was responsible for securing search and arrest warrants against me.”
Okah also claimed to
have influenced Jonathan’s appointment of Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke as
minister of petroleum resources, at the prompting of a Jonathan aide.
He alleged that between April 4 and 5, 2010, he received approximately
20 calls from Alison-Madueke, asking him to “put in a good word for her”
with Jonathan to consider her for the position.
He also countered
evidence and public statements by the SSS detailing his alleged
involvement in the October 1 blast. Okah provided telephone numbers used
by Jonathan’s aides and Alison-Madueke in reaching him.
The Presidency has, however, described Okah’s allegations as “false.”
In a statement by
presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, the Presidency said the
allegations were without any factual foundation and promised that
government would full representation in court once the trial commenced
fully.
The statement reads,
“The attention of the Presidency has been drawn to reports in the media
of allegations made against President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in an
affidavit said to have been sworn to by Mr. Henry Okah, who is facing
trial in South Africa for his involvement in terrorist acts against the
Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The Presidency categorically affirms that these allegations are false in their entirety and without any factual foundation.
“As the case of Mr.
Okah’s involvement in the plotting and execution of terrorist attacks in
Nigeria is already before a court of competent jurisdiction in South
Africa, the Presidency does not intend to say anymore on the matter for
now and will, in accordance with due process and international law, make
a full representation on the matter to the court when the trial opens.
“The Presidency also advises the
Nigerian media to respect the sanctity of the legal and judicial
processes in this matter and avoid becoming willing tools in the hands
of Mr. Okah and his agents in an entirely diversionary trial by the
media aimed only at falsely impugning the character and integrity of the
President and officials of his administration.”
ThePunch
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