MEND Chief Charged With Treason, Gun Running

About one month after they were extradited to Nigeria from Angola over gun-running charges, the Federal Government yesterday filed treason charges against the detained leaders of Movement for the Emancipa-tion of Niger Delta (MEND), Henry Okah and Edward Atatah.They were accused of terrorism, illegal importation of firearms and gun running.

At the Federal High Court, Abuja where the charges were filed, it was revealed that Okah was charged in absentia last year with treason and other offences. The defence was handed a copy of the 14 charges made against Okah in December, after his arrest in Angola before he was extradited to the country. If found guilty, Okah faces death penalty.

According to the charge, Okah and Atatah who are 42 and 43 respectively in September 2007 travelled from Nigeria to Luanda, Angola to buy shipping vessel worth USD670,000 to be used to transport arms to militants in the oil rich Niger Delta. Federal Government argued that the offences contravened section 41 © of the Criminal Code Act (CPA) Cap 77 laws of the federation of Nigeria 1999 and punishable under Section 41.

The accused were said to have sold and provided 250,000 assault riffles, general-purpose machine guns, rocket propelled launchers /canisters, bazookas and assorted ammunitions to armed groups such as the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Icelandic Cult and the MEND to levy war against the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Yenegoa, Port Harcourt, Delta and other places contrary to section 37(1) of the CPA.

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Nigeria has many illigitamate militant and non-militant groups representing the large number of minorities present in the country. Some groups that may seem somewhat non-confrontational are actually aiding the violent nature of other groups without endagering themselves as much. These militant groups are a bad sign for a newly democratic, country, because militants in true democracies seem to be ineffective, and from the sheer number of militant groups in Nigeria, we can conclude that they are somewhat effective.

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Nigeria 'Denies Access to Rebel'

Militant attacks have hit Nigeria's oil outputThe Nigerian government is preventing lawyers from seeing a detained oil militant leader, a rebel group says. Lawyers acting for Henry Okah have asked a judge to try again to compel the government to bring him to court.

Mr Okah and a colleague Edward Atatah were arrested in Angola in September and deported back to Nigeria in February, charged with gun-running.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said it was afraid for Mr Okah's safety.

The group previously said he had been killed - claims denied by the government.

"The Nigerian government has blatantly refused to comply with a High Court order granting the lawyers and families of Henry Okah and Edward Atatah immediate access to see him," Mend said in a statement e-mailed to journalists.

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The Nigerian government is failing to comply with their own laws. They are denying an alleged gun runner access to a lawyer, or access to anyone for that matter. There were rumors that Mr. Okah has already died, but the government denies these claims. Mr. Okah is an important member of the group that seeks independence of the Niger Delta. The Niger Delta is an oil-rich region that has been the site of many problems recently with oil pipelines breaking and citizens stealing the oil. The government's incompliance makes it seem possible that Mr. Okah is indeed dead, or that he is a threat in some way to the stablility of the government. It would be in the Nigerian government's best interest to allow access to Mr. Okah in order to falsify all claims that he is dead.

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