A South African Court has found the leader of the Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta MEND, Henry Okah guilty of 13 count charge of
terrorism.
Mr Okah is believed to have masterminded the October 2010 Independence Day
bombing in Abuja, that killed 12 people and injured many others.
He was
arrested in Johannesburg a day after two car bombs exploded during the 50th
anniversary of Nigeria's independence. Mr Okah denied the charges, even though
his militant group, Mend, said it had carried out the attack. Johannesburg High Court Judge Neels
Claassen convicted Okah on charges ranging from conspiracy to commit terrorism
to detonating explosives.
Okah was arrested on gun-running
charges in Angola in 2007 and then transferred to Nigeria but never convicted.
He was
released after two years under an amnesty for oil militants and he returned to
South Africa, where he had lived since 2003. He will be formally sentenced on
the 31st of this month or February 1st. Terrorism carries
a life term in South Africa.
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