Nigeria accuses oil delta rebel leader of crimes
(Adds lawsuit challenging Okah's detention, paragraph 8)
By Estelle Shirbon
ABUJA, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Nigerian police accused a detained rebel leader from the oil-producing Niger Delta of killings, arms dealing, oil smuggling and other crimes on Thursday, raising the prospect of a trial that could destabilise the area.
Henry Okah was extradited from Angola to Nigeria a week ago and uncertainty over his fate has already increased tensions in the anarchic and impoverished delta, home to Africa's biggest oil industry which pumps 2.1 million barrels per day.
Anger among militants over what they see as government persecution of a man they hail as a freedom fighter risks igniting a new round of violence and derailing peace talks.
"Henry Okah ... has been identified as an international gun-runner and a major oil bunkerer," the police said in a statement. Bunkering is a Nigerian term for oil smuggling.
The four-page statement was the first detailed information about Okah from Nigerian authorities since he was brought back to the country last Thursday.
His group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), alleged on Tuesday he had been shot dead in detention but Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua's spokesman later said the rebel leader was "alive and in safe custody".
The police statement did not say where Okah was being held.
MEND said lawyers for Okah had filed a suit challenging his detention at a Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday.
The 2005 arrest and prosecution of another delta militia leader, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, triggered a wave of violence against the oil industry. MEND played a leading role in attacks in early 2006 that shut down a fifth of Nigeria's crude output.
SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILES
The police said Okah was under investigation for financing militant activities in the delta, taking hostages, piracy, killing oil workers and troops, sabotage on the oil industry, bank robberies, theft of arms and promotion of secessionism.
No hostage is known to have died at the hands of the MEND. Only two foreign hostages have been killed in the delta, both in botched attempts by troops to free them.
One allegation was that Okah bought surface-to-air missiles with the intention of bringing down aircraft.
MEND is one of many armed groups which have attacked the oil industry in the Niger Delta to press demands for fairer redistribution of oil wealth to the people of the region and particularly its main ethnic group, the Ijaw.
Crime and militancy are intertwined in the delta. Armed groups make big profits from oil smuggling and kidnappings, while some militias have been armed by politicians seeking to intimidate opponents and voters to ensure re-election.
Yar'Adua came to power last May with Nigeria's first Ijaw vice president, Goodluck Jonathan, and they promised a 15-year development plan for the delta and negotiations with the rebels.
MEND was receptive at first and observed a ceasefire for a few months until Okah was arrested in Angola last September, when it resumed attacks and threats. Attacks by other groups have subsided though activists say there is growing frustration.
"The general feeling among the freedom fighters is that the government does not really want to develop the Niger Delta," said Oyeinfie Jonjon, a powerful Ijaw activist.
Jonjon was one of several influential rebels and activists who said on Feb. 6 they would return to peace talks with the government after withdrawing in December. But Jonjon said that decision was now in question. (Editing by Andrew Roche)
By Estelle Shirbon
ABUJA, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Nigerian police accused a detained rebel leader from the oil-producing Niger Delta of killings, arms dealing, oil smuggling and other crimes on Thursday, raising the prospect of a trial that could destabilise the area.
Henry Okah was extradited from Angola to Nigeria a week ago and uncertainty over his fate has already increased tensions in the anarchic and impoverished delta, home to Africa's biggest oil industry which pumps 2.1 million barrels per day.
Anger among militants over what they see as government persecution of a man they hail as a freedom fighter risks igniting a new round of violence and derailing peace talks.
"Henry Okah ... has been identified as an international gun-runner and a major oil bunkerer," the police said in a statement. Bunkering is a Nigerian term for oil smuggling.
The four-page statement was the first detailed information about Okah from Nigerian authorities since he was brought back to the country last Thursday.
His group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), alleged on Tuesday he had been shot dead in detention but Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua's spokesman later said the rebel leader was "alive and in safe custody".
The police statement did not say where Okah was being held.
MEND said lawyers for Okah had filed a suit challenging his detention at a Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday.
The 2005 arrest and prosecution of another delta militia leader, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, triggered a wave of violence against the oil industry. MEND played a leading role in attacks in early 2006 that shut down a fifth of Nigeria's crude output.
SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILES
The police said Okah was under investigation for financing militant activities in the delta, taking hostages, piracy, killing oil workers and troops, sabotage on the oil industry, bank robberies, theft of arms and promotion of secessionism.
No hostage is known to have died at the hands of the MEND. Only two foreign hostages have been killed in the delta, both in botched attempts by troops to free them.
One allegation was that Okah bought surface-to-air missiles with the intention of bringing down aircraft.
MEND is one of many armed groups which have attacked the oil industry in the Niger Delta to press demands for fairer redistribution of oil wealth to the people of the region and particularly its main ethnic group, the Ijaw.
Crime and militancy are intertwined in the delta. Armed groups make big profits from oil smuggling and kidnappings, while some militias have been armed by politicians seeking to intimidate opponents and voters to ensure re-election.
Yar'Adua came to power last May with Nigeria's first Ijaw vice president, Goodluck Jonathan, and they promised a 15-year development plan for the delta and negotiations with the rebels.
MEND was receptive at first and observed a ceasefire for a few months until Okah was arrested in Angola last September, when it resumed attacks and threats. Attacks by other groups have subsided though activists say there is growing frustration.
"The general feeling among the freedom fighters is that the government does not really want to develop the Niger Delta," said Oyeinfie Jonjon, a powerful Ijaw activist.
Jonjon was one of several influential rebels and activists who said on Feb. 6 they would return to peace talks with the government after withdrawing in December. But Jonjon said that decision was now in question. (Editing by Andrew Roche)
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