Henry Okah Blows Hot In Exclusive Interview with Thetimesofnigeria.com. “Femi Falana Knows Jonathan’a Associates Who Called Me. Jonathan Is A Fraud!”

http://www.thetimesofnigeria.com/TON/Article.aspx?id=2856

In a surprising early morning call on Sunday, Mr. Henry Okah who is being held in a South African prison in connection with the twin bomb blast that marred Nigeria’s 50th independence celebrations on October 1st today said he has revealed the identity of President Goodluck Jonathan’s associate who called him to his lawyer, Femi Falana.

In an exclusive interview with Thetimesofnigeria.com from his South African jailhouse, Okah maintained that he had nothing to do with the blast saying that he will eventually be vindicated by South African court.

Okah described President Jonathan as “a fraud who keeps deceiving Nigerians that everything is fine when the Niger delta is in fact in turmoil. Fighters are armed to teeth in the Creeks and he is lying to Nigerians about the state of affairs.”

Below are excerpts of the call.

TON: Good morning Mr. Okah. Thank you for the call. First, There is quite a bit of doubt about the authenticity of these calls. I recall you granted an interview to Aljazeera and NEXT newspaper. How can we guarantee that you are who you claim you are?



Okah: I really do not care about what people at this point. The reporter at Aljazeera has interviewed me in the past and knows my voice very well. This line is being monitored as we speak and security agents can indeed do a voice analysis of the calls. This is a civilized society and there are laws here unlike Nigeria. I am allowed phone calls. I am not a convict but only a detainee. Nigerians will know the truth someday.



TON: You stated in your interview with Aljazeera that a close associate of President Jonathan reached out to you to prevail on Movement for Emancipation of Niger delta to retract the statement claiming responsibility for the Abuja attack. Do you understand why Nigerians may be skeptical about your claims in view of the fact that you have refused to reveal the identity of the persons that sent you the text message and phone calls?



Okah: I will not be rushed or stampeded into revealing a name right. I do not want to be used to archive a political end by anyone. I have revealed the identity of the President’s associate to my Nigerian lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana. Falana knows the person and President Jonathan himself knows the person because he sent him.



TON: Has this person acted as a link between President Jonathan and yourself in the past?



Okah: Yes, yes. They have always maintained contact with me. I am not revealing the name right now except to Mr. Falana whom I communicate with regularly. I spoke with him the day I was arrested and I continue to speak with him on a regular basis. If I reveal the name to the public now it may be used for politics and those who claim I was paid by Northern politicians will jump at it.



TON: Talking about being paid by Northern politicians, there are reports in some Nigerian newspapers that you were paid $100m by President Ibrahim Babangida to orchestrate the blasts in Abuja. Is this true?

Okah: Laughs, laughs, laughs. I am laughing because nothing can be farther than the truth. Me, collect money from someone? Impossible. I have never and will never compromise myself. When I was held for almost two years by Nigerian authorities both in Angola and Nigeria I was offered different deals to win me over but I rejected them all. I was offered deals such as oil blocks and a role in late Yar’Adua’s government but I turned them down and returned to South Africa after the case against me was dismissed.



TON: But have you ever met Babangida personally in the past or any of his close associates?



Okah: No, no, no. I do not know him and have never met him neither do I sympathize with him. This is one of the reasons I have decided not to reveal names right now except to my lawyers. I laughed when you mentioned hundred million dollars. If I was given that type of money I won’t be struggling to pay my legal bills here. I do not have that type of money and was not offered.



TON: You and President Jonathan are both from Bayelsa State. Do you know him personally and do you have anything against him?

Okah: No, no, no. Nothing personal at all. Everything is based on principle. Look, when late Yar’Adua was there, he tried his best. He was no perfect but he was on the right path. He started the building blocks that would have helped resolve the Niger delta crisis. But since Jonathan came in he has abandoned everything and surrounded himself with a bunch of bad advisers and they have proceeded to pay some people off. You have these people who were paraded in Abuja as MEND members and they are now claiming that there are no more fighters in Creeks. Let them be deceiving themselves. Fighters in the Creek are armed to the teeth and ready to explode. All those people they are parading as MEND members are not criminals who have being settled with the exception of Boyloaf (Victor Ben Ebikabowei) and Farah Dagogo. Ateke Tom was never a member of MEND but I also assisted him. I assisted Tompolo during the Ijaw Itshekiri fight and some of them. I was never the leader of MEND. I am only a sympathizer. I believe in a just struggle. A just fight. But I am not a fighter. I do not care where a President comes from. I am only concerned with justice and equality. Yar’Adua who is from the North did more for Niger delta than Jonathan is doing now. Paying a few people off will not solve the Niger delta problem. It is not about presidency but about justice.



TON: But your house in South Africa was searched two days before the blast. What did they find?



Okah: They came with a search warrant and a load of security operatives. Nothing was found and that was the reason they did not arrest me. My arrest is as a result of diplomatic pressure from the Nigerian government. We are going for bail and I am hopeful that it will be granted because no evidence whatsoever has been presented before the court. Not a single evidence. I understand that the nine people arrested in Nigeria have since been released. How do I detonate a bomb from South Africa? I have no idea what they are talking about. President Jonathan is angry because I refused to play along with the script presented to me. Because they believe I will prevail on MEND to issue a retraction and on the basis of that he went ahead to state that MEND was not involved in the blast. I was arrested just two hours after I declined to play along.

Beep, beep, beep (beeps from the phone)

I am sorry my time is up and I have to leave now. Tell Nigerians that I will be vindicated. I have not done anything wrong and the court will set me free.

So who should we now believe?

This Okah guy would have been killed by now if he was in Nigeria. Lucky him.

You can say that again  . . . This very government was instrumental in engineering his release and eventually his exile to South Africa, after refusing to settle for the Amnesty package which all militants were generously offered as pay off for all their crimes last year.

So, we now have an Okah interview with

a) Al jazeera

b) 234NEXT

c) Financial Times

d) Times of Nigeria 

And now it seems Femi Falana knows who the presidential aide in question is

OKAH has always being on point since day one
Jonathan lost it .He should resign

This whole drama is becoming rather unbecoming. We are definitely in uncharted waters!

Just like I said, Ateke has never been a member of MEND. He was only assisted in 2007 in his fight with Omehia because MEND wanted to recruit him.

Like I also said earlier, the only militants who were there at the inception of MEND were Boyloaf, Farah and Tompolo.

Okah is right. GEJ is not interested in Naija Delta. He only believes the politics of thuggery and election rigging, hence his refusal to meet the Aaron team. This is the main reason for MENDs dissatisfaction with GEJ because Yaradua had time to discuss the issues as presented by the Aaron team.

More to come. Stay tuned. . .

Ibime:

Just like I said, Ateke has never been a member of MEND. He was only assisted in 2007 in his fight with Omehia because MEND wanted to recruit him.

Like I also said earlier, the only militants who were there at the inception of MEND were Boyloaf, Farah and Tompolo.

Okah is right. GEJ is not interested in Naija Delta. He only believes the politics of thuggery and election rigging, hence his refusal to meet the Aaron team. This is the main reason for MENDs dissatisfaction with GEJ because Yaradua had time to discuss the issues as presented by the Aaron team.

More to come. Stay tuned. . .

If negotiating with Aaron team will bring peace now and in the future, why is the government not even considering it? I am scared of what we are playing with. The arms are already there. The fighters seems to be ready too in the niger delta. We still have a chance to diffuse this dangerous situation.

The last statement is damning. Okah says GEJ claimed MEND didn't carry out the attack on the presumption that Okah would prevail on MEND to retract the statement.

Kobojunkie:

You can say that again  . . . This very government was instrumental in engineering his release and eventually his exile to South Africa, after refusing to settle for the Amnesty package which all militants were generously offered as pay off for all their crimes last year.

So, we now have an Okah interview with

a) Al jazeera

b) 234NEXT

c) Financial Times

d) Times of Nigeria  

Stop talking crap. Okah was the very first to accept amnesty. I don't know why dishonest people think they can recreate history. Its best not to be a liar.

[size=14pt]Okah accepts amnesty[/size]
Anthony Smart with REUTERS reports
July 9, 2009 08:03PM

Nigerian militant leader, Henry Okah, who is on trial for gun-running and treason, has accepted a government offer for "unconditional" amnesty, his lawyer told Reuters on Thursday.

Nigeria's president, Umaru Yar' Adua, last week ordered his interior minister to extend the amnesty offer to Okah and promised to release him if he accepted.

"They offered it to him yesterday. Okah welcomed the amnesty," one of Okah's lawyers, Wilson Ajuwa, said by telephone. "We are in the process of finalising it. Hopefully, it will be resolved early next week."

He declined to say when he expected Okah to be freed.

The release of Okah has been one of the key demands from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the country's most prominent militant group that has launched an intensified campaign of violence against the oil sector in the last six weeks.

President Yar'Adua approved the immediate release of Mr. Okah before departing for the G8 Summit in Italy.
. . .

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5435499-146/Okah_accepts_amnesty___.csp

Okah never disavowed armed struggle. Claiming Okah accepted amnesty is a ruse cos Okah was threatening violence the next day after he was released in interview with AlJazeera. Claiming Okah accepted amnesty is like saying Asari accepted amnesty in 2007.

In this whole episode, Okah is the only one close to principled.

[flash=400,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47yGCz_QZRg?fs=1&hl=en_US[/flash]

November 2009

GEJ is simply making a mockery of Niger Delta agitation.

Femi Falana should be one of the most upright men in Nigeria today with proven track record. Just ask him if he has the name of the aide, and you will see GEJ is a barefaced liar and political crook who tried the most despicable means to make political capital out of a National catastrophe.

Ibime:

GEJ is simply making a mockery of Niger Delta agitation.

Femi Falana should be one of the most upright men in Nigeria today with proven track record. Just ask him if he has the name of the aide, and you will see GEJ is a barefaced liar and political crook who tried the most despicable means to make political capital out of a National catastrophe.

Jonathan has a history of playing politics with everything and putting politics first and National Interest second.

Any fair minded folk knows this. It is unfortunate that some of GEJ's detractors up North are not guided by National Interest either. But the fact remains that mediocrity is mediocrity whether it comes in the form of an Ijaw man, Igbo man, Fulani Man or Yoruba man.

After 50years of failure we should all learn to place our sentiments aside and demand the best. The Best I am talking about is not IBB, Buhari, Atiku nor Gusau. We deserve better than all this ridiculus bunch and Jonathan is not far from the rest.

Jonathan is just as cynical and calculating as the rest. Trust me, Bayelsan politics is no bed of roses. They are all assassins, and fraternise freely with assassins. Nigeria can survive mediocrity. We could survive the mediocrity of the Gowons and even the Buharis. What we can't survive is PDP killers, the IBBs and Abachas. They're all devils. Even IBB would be regretting that he could not assassinate opponents as openly as these PDP guys routinely do to the likes of Bola Ige, Marshall Harry and AK Dikibo. IBB planted the seed, but these current set have taken it to next level, including GEJ. Imagine Mr President investigating N7bln Independence celebration that he formulated and forced on the nation by himself.

This okah is nothing but a low lying scum of the earth piece of trash. Frm his words u can deduce that he has some beef for this govt. What is annoying is that tommorow the govt will issue a rejoinder to this piece of rubbish. The govt should nt trade words with fleas like okah for any reason. Okah has a hand in the bombing theres no doubt.

There is no need to give GEJ a bad name in order to hang him.

This is politics and like I have always said Jonathan understands the Nigerian politics and there is a way he is playing it to bring a change.

When everyone was shouting Yaradua should resign and labelled Jonathan a coward my position then was that Jonathan was behind the politics of the Yaradua saga, he was the one who allowed Aondoaka fool himself, he let the CABAL exhaust themselves and held the governors and senators hostage till they came around and gave him powers to act, then he took actions redeployed Aondoaka before finally dissolving the FEC.

We dont expect angels in politics, humans are in politics, Jonathan may have lied but then he is human, he may have wanted to use the blast as an opportunity but then it is politics, if Ibru could plea bargain and forfeit N150b to get a 6mth jail term why wont we just use the bomb blast to silence IBB and keep him in a cooler.

Okah telling us abt an aide to the president still does not implicate Jonathan or exonerates IBB, all okah is saying for now is that he was not involved in the blast but was asked to implicate someone.

Now okah says he is not involved in the bomb blast since he has been in SA but he knows that the boys inthe creek are armed to the teeth, how did he know this, is it true that he is arming the boys in the creek as Asari claims, and if Asari is right can it then not be said that he armed some of these boys he is so confident about with the bombs dat went off in Abj.

Has Okah become a saint in our nation, is he now the face of our struggle for freedom?

I dont give a hoot about a man who threatens with war without diplomacy, if he knew that Yaradua was on the right path y did he refuse to play a role in his govt when asked to do so, Nigeria can never be for the oil producers alone, it cant be for the northerners or westerners alone, we must learn to compromise, look at another mans view, negotiate provide a win win situation, u cant ask that you control 100% of ur resources and make ur region stronger than the union,There is no American state that can be stronger than the United States all together, we must grow and when growing we cant jump from the elementary to the University.

If America who in 1776 declared that all men are equal intheir constitution had slaves, and went on after a 100yrs to consider a black mans vote to be 3 5th of a white mans vote and finally after 200yrs a black man occupies the seat, they didnot achieve this by insisting that the union collapses or a black man becomesd president.

Okah we dont care if u were contacted or not, do u need a $100m to be able to pay ur legal bills, I dont give a damn if u are vindicated or not, while we are here working hard to see to a better future you are with ur family in SA enjoying urself and arming people in the Niger delta.

Shame on you Mr Okah.

marvix:

Has Okah become a saint in our nation, is he now the face of our struggle for freedom?

What about the Ex-Militants that were paraded by our own President in front of the Nation? When did they become saints? When did they become the face of our struggle for freedom? Why do we pay stipends each month to these miscreants for all the crimes they committed against the Nigerian people? Why is our government cavorting with these hooligans? Why? Are we to believe Okah is worse?

Interesting interview [youtube video]. . . .somehow, I feel him.

marvix:

There is no need to give GEJ a bad name in order to hang him.

This is politics and like I have always said Jonathan understands the Nigerian politics and there is a way he is playing it to bring a change.

When everyone was shouting Yaradua should resign and labelled Jonathan a coward my position then was that Jonathan was behind the politics of the Yaradua saga, he was the one who allowed Aondoaka fool himself, he let the CABAL exhaust themselves and held the governors and senators hostage till they came around and gave him powers to act, then he took actions redeployed Aondoaka before finally dissolving the FEC.

We dont expect angels in politics, humans are in politics, Jonathan may have lied but then he is human, he may have wanted to use the blast as an opportunity but then it is politics, if Ibru could plea bargain and forfeit N150b to get a 6mth jail term why wont we just use the bomb blast to silence IBB and keep him in a cooler.

Okah telling us abt an aide to the president still does not implicate Jonathan or exonerates IBB, all okah is saying for now is that he was not involved in the blast but was asked to implicate someone.

Now okah says he is not involved in the bomb blast since he has been in SA but he knows that the boys inthe creek are armed to the teeth, how did he know this, is it true that he is arming the boys in the creek as Asari claims, and if Asari is right can it then not be said that he armed some of these boys he is so confident about with the bombs dat went off in Abj.

Has Okah become a saint in our nation, is he now the face of our struggle for freedom?

I dont give a hoot about a man who threatens with war without diplomacy, if he knew that Yaradua was on the right path y did he refuse to play a role in his govt when asked to do so, Nigeria can never be for the oil producers alone, it cant be for the northerners or westerners alone, we must learn to compromise, look at another mans view, negotiate provide a win win situation, u cant ask that you control 100% of your resources and make your region stronger than the union,There is no American state that can be stronger than the United States all together, we must grow and when growing we cant jump from the elementary to the University.

If America who in 1776 declared that all men are equal intheir constitution had slaves, and went on after a 100yrs to consider a black mans vote to be 3 5th of a white mans vote and finally after 200yrs a black man occupies the seat, they didnot achieve this by insisting that the union collapses or a black man becomesd president.

Okah we dont care if u were contacted or not, do u need a $100m to be able to pay your legal bills, I dont give a damn if u are vindicated or not, while we are here working hard to see to a better future you are with your family in SA enjoying urself and arming people in the Niger delta.

Shame on you Mr Okah.

Nice analysis.

Kobojunkie:

What about the Ex-Militants that were paraded by our own President in front of the Nation? When did they become saints? When did they become the face of our struggle for freedom? Why do we continue to pay them stipends each month for all the crimes they also committed against the Nigerian people as a whole? Why is our government rubbing necks with these hooligans? Why? Is Okah now worse than that set?

The truth remains glaring but people have refused to see it until we are plunged into a full scale war.FG is pumping money into the account of ex-militants and has blatantly refused to continue with the negotiations initiated by Yar'Adua's administration through the Aaron team.I personally expect the bombings to continue until FG resumes negotiations with MEND.

There is no glaring truth here yet. Only vested interests would see any glaring truth in what we have heard so far.

Your statements about the Aaron team actually puts the blame for the bombing on the faction of MEND that did not accept the amnesty program. That would be the team still loyal to Okah, right?

Why did IBB stay away from Nigeria's 50th anniversary celebrations? Please tell us the real reason if you happen to know, not the excuse of its extravagance that he gave us publicly - it doesn't hold any water.

Abagworo:

The truth remains glaring but people have refused to see it until we are plunged into a full scale war.FG is pumping money into the account of ex-militants and has blatantly refused to continue with the negotiations initiated by Yar'Adua's administration through the Aaron team.I personally expect the bombings to continue until FG resumes negotiations with MEND.

This guy keeps beating around the bush. Is he afraid of mentioning names? I really dont understand what his point is. Mention names and stop pointing fingers if you are sure of what you are saying. Tired of hearing this empty barrel talk. He has nothing to say in my opinion and is just using diversionary tactics to remain relevant. Say what you need to say or forever shut up Okah the terrorist.

Anybody who cites the political maturation in USA with the political insanity found in Nigeria could face culpable criminal indictment punishable by death. So contributors you are thereby warned.

koruji:

There is no glaring truth here yet. Only vested interests would see any glaring truth in what we have heard so far.

Your statements about the Aaron team actually puts the blame for the bombing on the faction of MEND that did not accept the amnesty program. That would be the team still loyal to Okah, right?

Why did IBB stay away from Nigeria's 50th anniversary celebrations? Please tell us the real reason if you happen to know, not the excuse of its extravagance that he gave us publicly - it doesn't hold any water.

Is there any constitutional provision that mandated every former Heads of State or Presidents of Nigeria, death or alive, must attend the yearly celebration of Nigeria’s independence?

Does the constitution of Nigeria not grant IBB inalienable right to do as he wishes under the law including shunning the invitation to attend extravagant 50th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence?

Exactly, TewMuch.

Which one is likely to be seen as suggesting you are being paid by political enemies of GEJ? Saying that someone told you they were going to pin the bombings on the northern element or mentioning the name of that person. In my opinion, the former is more divisive and he has already damned the devil and said it. Only when asked to present evidence he began hiding the name, even after he was called a liar.

I hope Falana knows to stay away from Balyesa politics or he will have himself to blame when he gets caught in the middle.

TewMuch:

This guy keeps beating around the bush. Is he afraid of mentioning names? I really dont understand what his point is. Mention names and stop pointing fingers if you are sure of what you are saying. Tired of hearing this empty barrel talk. He has nothing to say in my opinion and is just using diversionary tactics to remain relevant. Say what you need to say or forever shut up Okah the terrorist.

he he he - even in the U.S. they break into e-mail accounts and loot campaign offices at night. Women have accused black men of despoil, falsely - complete with self-inflicted face wounds, just to turn the tide against a candidate. They have carried guns to presidential rallies, et cetera, et cetera.

There is something about politics that turn people into mad dogs, but your warning is duly noted, in any case

Dede1:

Anybody who cites the political maturation in USA with the political insanity found in Nigeria could face culpable criminal indictment punishable by death. So contributors you are thereby warned.

Dede1:

Is there any constitutional provision that mandated every former Heads of State or Presidents of Nigeria, death or alive, must attend the yearly celebration of Nigeria’s independence?
Does the constitution of Nigeria not grant IBB inalienable right to do as he wishes under the law including shunning the invitation to attend extravagant 50th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence?

No, there is no such constitutional provision, but a man of his stature must surely have a good reason for staying away from celebrating Nigeria's independence - it was surely not the extravagance of the occasion!

koruji:

No, there is no such constitutional provision, but a man of his stature must surely have a good reason for staying away from celebrating Nigeria's independence - it was surely not the extravagance of the occasion!

If Nigeria will ever grow, Nigerians must shy away from sentiment and embrace the rule of law. IBB reason not to attend the Nigeria’s independent celebration is acceptable to me. To attend or not to attend the silly fanfare such as Nigeria's independent celebration has insignificant bearing on the stature of IBB.

koruji:

No, there is no such constitutional provision, but a man of his stature must surely have a good reason for staying away from celebrating Nigeria's independence - it was surely not the extravagance of the occasion!

I'm anti-IBB but don't you think your imagination is running well ahead of you? IBB didn't attend for reasons best known to him. Didn't they say he has a bad leg or something? He could have used that as an excuse. Again, if he masterminded the blast, it wouldn't have stopped him from coming because he would have known where and when the bombs would go off. Let's leave the man to nurse his dying leg and beam the light of our curiosity on GEJ and Henry Okah.

@slap1. Go to one corner and slap yourself as you seem to like
I DID NOT SAY ANYTHING OF THE SORT - so it seems, sir, that you are the one running away with your imagination.

He gave a reason already, and I don't buy it, but it is not as untenable as the one you are assisting him with. Did he have to walk to Abuja or something? When it looked like he might be able to easily kick-out Jonathan he was not lacking in attending meetings with him, but now that the man is proving unamenable to subtle and open threats IBB has another story.

IBB will not be left alone - and I hope we find he was involved and gets to go to jail - until he leaves us to clean up the mess he created since he has been planning and executing coups in this country! I will not be surprised if he is involved, but I DON'T KNOW and I AM NOT SAYING HE IS INVOLVED.

slap1:

I'm anti-IBB but don't you think your imagination is running well ahead of you? IBB didn't attend for reasons best known to him. Didn't they say he has a bad leg or something? He could have used that as an excuse. Again, if he masterminded the blast, it wouldn't have stopped him from coming because he would have known where and when the bombs would go off. Let's leave the man to nurse his dying leg and beam the light of our curiosity on GEJ and Henry Okah.

^But you're insinuating he has a hand in it hence his decision to stay away. I think we should focus on the principal characters, GEJ and Okah, for now. Bear in mind that I'm pro-GEJ, before you start getting ideas.

I am definitely insinuating something. However, what you suggested is because YOU thought of only that possibility based on my statements.

There are other, perhaps similar, possibilities - but like I said I DON'T KNOW and I AM NOT SAYING HE IS INVOLVED IN ANYTHING.

slap1:

^But you're insinuating he has a hand in it hence his decision to stay away. I think we should focus on the principal characters, GEJ and Okah, for now. Bear in mind that I'm pro-GEJ, before you start getting ideas.

Thank this thing call PDP is finally coming to a head.