Henry Okah, leader the Movement
for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), has accused the South African
government of maltreating him.
In a statement he released after
the affirmation of his conviction by a constitutional court, Okah vowed to seek
redress from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague,
Netherlands.
He also described the Niger Delta
agitation as similar to the apartheid struggle embarked upon by the African
National Congress (ANC).
South Africa’s top court had
reinstated a 24-year prison sentence for Okah convicted of a series of attacks
in Warri and Abuja in 2010.
But the MEND leader described the
reinstated conviction as “laughable,” accusing the court of “side-stepping
critical questions raised by his legal team”.
“The situation in the Niger Delta
is a conflict as defined by International Human Law (IHL), the internationally
accepted body for legislation for adjudicating conflict situations,” he said in
a statement.
“Therefore, prosecuting a party
to a conflict in a foreign country under the South African anti-terrorism act,
where the same statute is inapplicable to other parties to that same conflict
is, in my opinion, illogical, and in fact absurd.
“The South African armed struggle
against apartheid, and that undertaken by the Movement for the Emancipation of
the Niger Delta (MEND) are not dissimilar in substance. Even more shocking is
the continual imprisonment as common criminals in South African prisons of
soldiers of liberation armies who had been captured by the apartheid government
almost a quarter of a century after independence in South Africa.
“I have been seriously mistreated
by the South African government which had forged virtually all the documents
used in my trial. I have been assaulted, electrocuted, denied sunlight and
possibly poisoned in the last four years.
“For four years, I have been fed
with two slices of bread for hospital, five slices for launch, and five for
dinner. Despite being seriously ill, I have been denied access to a doctor and
I have been forced to live with a growth in my throat and severe abdominal
pains for the last one year but such inhuman treatment will never dampen my
spirit.”
He accused South Africa of using
its justice system to aid foreign governments engaged in civil strife with
their civilian population.
“The Nigerian government working
in concert with the South African state denied me access to my witnesses,
whilst witnesses for the state were transported to South Africa and
accommodated at the expense of the Nigerian government could not have had any
effect on the outcome of my trial?” he asked.
Okah called for a united
coalition across Nigeria to fight the elite he accused of plundering the
nation’s resources.
“The injustice is not limited to
the Niger Delta as that is region is but a microcosm of the deplorable state of
the country. A united Nigeria possesses the potential to ascend to great
heights under good leadership,” he said.
Meanwhile, MEND has expressed
disappointment with the verdict of the South African court.
In a statement signed by its
spokesman Jomo Gbomo, the group accused South African government of condoning
corruption at the highest level.
“Considering that corruption and
compromise is practised at the highest level of government and eaten deep into
the fabric of the South African political and justice system it didn’t
therefore come as a complete surprise,” it said.
“On account of oil in the Niger
Delta region and the connivance of the oil majors and traitors within, the
international community continues to turn a blind eye to this miscarriage of
justice throughout the different tiers of the courts.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com