NIGERIA: State security services have blamed Henry Okah for the bombs that rocked the southern oil city of Warri

Record ID: 234687

  • Title: NIGERIA: State security services have blamed Henry Okah for the bombs that rocked the southern oil city of Warri
  • Date: 11th November 2010
  • Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (NOVEMBER 10, 2010) (REUTERS) SPOKESPERSON FOR NIGERIA'S STATE SECURITY SERVICE ENTERING ROOM AND SEATING DOWN (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARYLIN OGAR, SPOKESWOMAN, STATE SECURITY SERVICES, (SSS) SAYING: "It has been uncovered that Henry Okah came back from South Africa for the Warri bombings, purchased the cars, which were then moved to the welder and later to the house of one of the suspects on the 13th march 2010 where he (Henry Okah) personally wired the bombs. Subsequently on 14th March, 2010, Okah departed the country apparently to create an alibi for himself over the bombings that eventually took place the next day." VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARYLIN OGAR, SAYING: "On the Warri bombings, of March 15, 2010, the perpetrators have been arrested. They are the same people used by Henry Okah to execute the October 1, 2010 bombings." VARIOUS OF PRESS BRIEFING
  • Embargoed: 26th November 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria, Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVAEYHFPTGFWOOZXMO0ULJU4GM9E
  • Story Text: The main suspect behind twin car bombings in Nigeria's capital Abuja last month was also responsible for bomb attacks in the southern oil city of Warri in March, the secret service said on Wednesday (November 10).
    The State Security Service (SSS) said Henry Okah, who is facing conspiracy and terrorism charges in South Africa over the Abuja attacks on October 1, travelled to Warri and wired the car bombs which were detonated on March 15 outside government talks about an amnesty programme.
    Okah is one of the suspected leaders of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a militant group which this week claimed responsibility for kidnapping seven French, U.S., Indonesian and Canadian workers from an oil rig off Nigeria's southern coast.
    "It has been uncovered that Henry Okah came back from South Africa for the Warri bombings, purchased the cars, which were then moved to the welder and later to the house of one of the suspects on the 13th march 2010 where he personally wired the bombs. Subsequently on 14th March, 2010, Okah departed the country apparently to create an alibi for himself over the bombings that eventually took place the next day," SSS spokeswoman, Marilyn Ogar told a news conference.
    The first vehicle exploded on an expressway several hundred metres from the Delta state governor's compound in Warri, the second at the gates of the building, in attacks which security sources later said appeared to have been a dry run for October 1.
    "On the Warri bombings, of March 15, 2010, the perpetrators have been arrested. They are the same people used by Henry Okah to execute the October 1, 2010 bombings," said Ogar.
    Both the Abuja and the Warri bombings were claimed by MEND.
    Security sources say Okah was long one of the masterminds behind the group, helping to supply weapons and to organise years of attacks on infrastructure including pipelines and flowstations in Africa's biggest oil and gas industry.
    Okah, who lives in South Africa and has denied being MEND's
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