NIGERIAN terrorist Henry Okah was on Tuesday jailed for 24 years by the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.
In January, the South Gauteng High Court found Okah guilty of 13 counts of engaging in terrorist activities.
The counts related to a bombing in Warri, Nigeria, in March 2010 in which a person was killed; and another in Abuja on October 1 2010, in which 21 people were killed and scores injured.
The court also found that Okah was the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, a rebel group that claimed responsibility for the bombings. The group had also claimed responsibility for attacks on oil companies operating in the region.
Although Okah is not a resident in South Africa and the crimes were committed outside the country’s borders, the International Co-operation in Criminal Matters Act gave South Africa the jurisdiction to try the crimes.
On Tuesday, Judge Neels Claassen sentenced Okah to 12 years’ imprisonment for each of the bombings and 10 years for threats made to the South African government after his arrest in October 2010.
The 10 years will run concurrently with the 24 years.
“Effectively, the accused (Okah) is therefore sentenced to 24 years’ imprisonment,” Judge Claassen said, handing down sentence.
In January, during judgment, Judge Claassen said the state had proved Okah’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt, and his failure to testify meant the evidence against him remained uncontested.
Okah has denied any involvement, claiming the charges against him were politically motivated.
During the trial, he was described as a “peaceful man” by Filonis Ekiyoro, a pastor from Nigeria, one of the witnesses he called in mitigation of his sentence.
Okah had also launched an application requesting that Judge Claassen place on record that the proceedings in his trial were irregular in a number of respects.
- Reuters