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.”
Punch Nigeria
