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Henry Okah: South African court convicts Nigeria rebel | Henry Okah: South African court convicts Nigeria rebel |
(35 minutes later) | |
A South African court has found Nigerian militant leader Henry Okah guilty of masterminding the 2010 car bombing which killed 12 people. | A South African court has found Nigerian militant leader Henry Okah guilty of masterminding the 2010 car bombing which killed 12 people. |
Okah was convicted of 13 counts related to acts of terrorism. | Okah was convicted of 13 counts related to acts of terrorism. |
He was arrested in Johannesburg a day after two car bombs exploded during the 50th anniversary of Nigeria's independence. | He was arrested in Johannesburg a day after two car bombs exploded during the 50th anniversary of Nigeria's independence. |
He had denied the charges, even though his militant group, Mend, said it had carried out the attack. | He had 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. | Johannesburg High Court Judge Neels Claassen convicted Okah on charges ranging from conspiracy to commit terrorism to detonating explosives. |
"I have come to the conclusion that the state proved beyond reasonable doubt the guilt of the accused," Judge Claassen said, AFP news agency reports. | |
Okah was arrested on gun-running charges in Angola in 2007 and then transferred to Nigeria but never convicted. | 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 was released after two years under an amnesty for oil militants and he returned to South Africa, where he had lived since 2003. |
Mend says it is fighting so that more of Nigeria's massive oil wealth is used to benefit the Niger Delta area which produces the oil. | |
But criminal gangs have taken advantage of the region's instability to make money from ransoms paid by oil companies, and by stealing oil. | |
The violence subsided significantly after the government offered militants an amnesty in 2009. | |
At its peak, the instability in the Niger Delta cost Nigeria about $1bn (£630m) in loss revenue, Reuters news agency quotes the central bank as saying. | |
Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer, but most of its people live in poverty. |