₦airaland Forum

5.

Imagine eating this with delicious egusi soup and bush meat.

Charles Okah, whose brother, Henry Okar, led the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, until he was jailed by South African authorities, speaks to PREMIUM TIMES about the aftermath of the October 1, 2010 Independence Day bombing, his business deals with the United States and the United Kingdom and more.

How were you arrested and where were you taken to from the time of your arrest to the time you were sent to Kuje Prison?

I was arrested at my residence in Apapa GRA, Lagos on Saturday, October 1, 2010 at about 1pm. There was no arrest warrant produced. It was a crude kidnap-type operation. The team leader told me that I was being arrested on suspicion of being the elusive spokesman of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, who goes by the pseudonym Jomo Gbomo. My eldest son who was back from school in the United States at the time was also arrested. We were bound, blindfolded, and taken to the DSS Lagos office where we spent the night. The next morning, we were flown to their Abuja headquarters in a military plane. Two days later on Tuesday, Oct 19, 2010, the DSS spokeswoman, Ms Marilyn Ogar, was announcing on national television that “their investigations had revealed that Charles Tonbra Okah is Jomo Gbomo”. But barely two weeks after that announcement, while still in their custody, the same Jomo Gbomo released a statement, and has continued up till this day. I was transferred to Kuje Prison custody by an order of the court on December 24, 2010, where I have remained since then.

Before your arrest, what was your relationship with GEJ?

I was not close to him. I met him on a few occasions when he was deputy governor under my cousin, Chief Diepreye Alamiesiyegha. Again, when he was governor, he spoke to my brother through my phone in his office, because Henry did not want to call him directly. I also met him in Pretoria, South Africa as Vice President, when the then President Yar’Adua sent him, in the company of Chief Timipre Sylva, and Senator David Brigidi to establish communications with Henry towards addressing the problems inside the creeks. I was in South Africa on business at the time.

We understand the Goodluck Jonathan administration was constantly in contact with you here in Kuje Prison?

That is true. There were several surreptitious and nocturnal visits that spanned the over four years I have been held here in Kuje Prison. The visits were made by Gordon Obuah, former Chief Security Officer to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, in company with the Special Adviser on Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku. Their mission was to ensure that I cooperated with the government in implicating Nasir El-Rufai and others in the October 1, 2010 bombing. Mr. Obuah and Kuku said I would be set free if I implicated the perceived enemies of the former president.

When and how did they visit you in the prison?

The visits were done after the 6pm final lock-up of inmates. Before any visit, the Presidency and the DSS would inform the Controller General of Prisons who in turn would inform the Controller FCT Command, the Officer-in-Charge, Kuje prison and the Chief Warder to ensure they wait and receive the high profile visitors. The prison officials are usually told to wait outside the office of the Officer in Charge when the meeting is on. After these visits, some moneys were given to the prison officials for my welfare and that of two others arrested over the 50th Independence Day Anniversary bombing. The last meetings came in late 2014, where I was shown a draft of an endorsement for Goodluck Jonathan by Mr. Kuku which he said had been sent by email to MEND. He promised that we would be released as soon as GEJ is voted for a second term, and wanted me to find ways to reach out to MEND to release that draft as its endorsement for Goodluck. The former CSO on his part assured me he would ensure the container which was ordered by my company on behalf of the United States Embassy and seized by the DSS at the Tin Can Island Port on the allegation it contained plastic explosives, would be released to my wife. They also promised to off-set school fees owed by my children.
But MEND did not endorse Jonathan after all?
MEND refused to support Jonathan and I was told to forget any financial aid and to brace myself for another four year stay in prison when Goodluck wins, as if it was my fault the group endorsed Buhari.

Did you say you had a contract from the American Embassy?

Yes I did. The 40 foot container, which was not tendered in court as exhibit even though the reason given by the DSS for its seizure was that its contents included plastic explosives, was imported by my company for the American Embassy on Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos. The contents were plastic floating docks and installation accessories which originated from the EZ Dock Company in Monnet, Missouri, USA after we received a Local Purchase Order from the embassy which was approved in Washington.
Who is currently in custody of the container?
I have no idea. Since they claimed I imported plastic explosives for the American Embassy, I would expect the container to be at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos under heavy security or in the premises of the DSS in Abuja, to be presented at short notice to the court. My concern is the damage that has been done to the improperly stored contents of the legitimate import.

Did the American Government reach out to former President Goodluck Jonathan to sort out the issue of the container?

I have no idea what transpired between the Goodluck Jonathan government and the American Government. I was informed by my wife when she visited me at the DSS headquarters where I was being held that in an attempt to distance themselves, the American Embassy sent her a letter revoking the contract for the floating docks which had already been brought into the country. That was the least of my worry. My main concern was that the Embassy would refuse my son re-entry into the United States where he was concluding his studies at the University of Kansas. But as God would have it, the Embassy did not give him any trouble. The problem came from the DSS operatives attached to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport who refused him to leave on two occasions until Festus Keyamo intervened.
Did the Jonathan Government pay fees for your kids?
We got assistance from time to time from a few friends in the government, but this was not in any official capacity.

Apart from El-Rufai, who were the other person’s the administration wanted you to implicate in the Oct 1, 2010 bombing?

I wouldn’t know if the DSS interrogators were acting on instructions from GEJ but I know that they had a list of names but only presented the names of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, Mallam Nasir El Rufai, Chief Timipre Sylva, and Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan. Somehow they were aware that I had visited Gen. Babangida early 2010, at his residence in Abuja, and wanted to use that visit as the platform to work out a false statement which would suggest that the general’s house was the rendezvous for an assassination plot to eliminate former President Jonathan on Oct 1, 2010.

Were some of the people you were asked to implicate aware of the plot?

I don’t know since I have not had contact with the outside world. The only person who got to know at that time was Mallam Nasir El Rufai. I had managed to smuggle a letter from the prison to warn him and others. He later published that letter in his book, “The Accidental Public Servant.” I couldn’t implicate innocent people in a crime I was implicated simply because my accusers promised me freedom.

Could it be that the bombing was organised to nail you and others?

I would not know but from what I read in the papers, the bombing was claimed by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) who never make false claims of responsibility. I read that the bombing was a symbolic attack meant to counter the impression that the group no longer existed as was being propagated by Goodluck Jonathan and some ex-militants. The DSS and Jonathan strategists may have wanted to take advantage of that MEND attack minus the claim. After the bomb blast occurred, Elder Godsday Orubebe, and Mr. Tony Uranta contacted my brother (Henry Okah) in South Africa to use his influence to ask MEND to retract their statement which claimed responsibility so that, according to Uranta in a text message to Henry on October 1, 2010, the bombing could be blamed on ‘Northern elements’. The request was refused by Henry.

But the former President had during a PDP rally in Lagos accused your brother, Henry, of being hired by some persons to assassinate him. Were you also accused?

Yes they did after I refused to ‘cooperate’ with them. They said that the money I withdrew for the purchase of dollars for my son’s school fees came from the ‘sponsors’ of the bomb blast and insisted that the money was used to buy cars used in the bombing. It was after filing charges that they eventually traced the source of the money to a payment made into my Zenith Bank account by the British High Commission in Abuja through its defence attache. This payment which was made around September 2010; was for a contract awarded my company to install a floating dock for the Nigerian Navy at its Lagos Satellite Town Base. I wonder why they have not yet arrested the British High Commissioner and his US counterpart for alleged involvement the phantom plot.

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/186436-interview-jonathan-tried-to-implicate-innocent-nigerians-in-independence-day-bombing-okah.html

An analyst with the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, on Sunday in Abuja advised Nigeria to prepare for the post-insurgency rebuilding of the North East, destroyed by the Boko Haram insurgents.

Matthew Alao, a UN Conflict Prevention and Peace Building Analyst, told the News Agency of Nigeria that Nigeria was in the last phase of insurgency in the North East.

“We are getting into the last phase of insurgency in the North East.

“There is need for everybody to put hands on deck to ensure that the post-conflict reconstruction, reconciliation and rehabilitation, are done inclusively,” he said.

Mr. Alao said efforts should be geared ensuring that the post-conflict reconstruction, reconciliation and re-integration, were done inclusively, particularly with regards to women.

He regretted that women were the worst-hit in the Boko Haram attacks, as many of them had lost their husbands and children.

“You will agree with me that women generally in this part of Nigeria (North East) may be excluded, maybe not deliberately, but culturally.

“They may be excluded from taking active part in the post-conflict phase; women need to be included in all aspects of the post-conflict phase of the insurgency.

“Be it socio-economic, infrastructure rebuilding, reconciliation, mediation, or any other programmes that either government or donors want to bring to the North East, women have to play critical role.

“I believe that the various state governments will include women in the decision-making, programme design and implementation.
“We, the development partners, will also ensure that in all aspects that we are intervening, women are carried along,” he said.

Mr. Alao pledged the continuous support of the UN to the Boko Haram victims, saying that in the past, the organisation had provided various forms of support to the victims.

(NAN)
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/186118-nigeria-should-prepare-for-post-boko-haram-un-analyst.html

zynzyn:
Now I am confused!

Should I correct your English or discourage your profanity??

I think you meant B I T C H E S!

U know what it is

ENTROVERT:
lol..nice

Where did u come from?

Skydivers are involved

One thing many of you don't want to understand is that there are only a few good men that truly want to serve. I trust Buhari's judgment and I know he will deliver.

Take your time Baba. Real Nigerians are in support.

Saraki is going to experience the greatest fall of shame

Uncovers 3 laboratories

Suspect’s couriers jailed in China, Turkey, Malaysia
By Evelyn Usman

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a popular businessman (names withheld), alleged to be leader of an international drug trafficking organisation, who recruits and sponsors couriers to China, Malaysia, Turkey and Italy.

The arrest of the 37-year-old suspect reportedly followed the agency’s discovery of three laboratories used for the illegal production of methamphetamine in his home town in Anambra State.

Addressing journalists yesterday on the arrest described as the latest outstanding operational success recorded by the anti-narcotic agency, the Chairman/Chief Executive, NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, disclosed that surveillance indicated that the suspect shuttled between his country home and Isolo, Lagos State, residence.

He said: “He hides under the cover of motorcycle parts business in running a drug cell that has international affiliation.

“He specialises in recruiting and sponsoring drug couriers to China, Malaysia and Turkey. He also pays his couriers an average of $5,000 per trip.

“The suspect has two Nigeria international passports and one Ghanaian passport, all bearing his photographs with different names. Two other passports belonging to suspected drug couriers were also seized.

“He hired one Raphael, who is a professional methanphetamine cook to work for him. He pays him N500,000 for his service and N700,000 for the purchase of precursor chemicals per production circle.

“The production capacity per cycle is 14kg. As a result of the indicting surveillance report, he was arrested in his home country.”

During a search of one of the suspect’s laboratories at his house, 2.615kg of liquid methamphetamine, according to Giade, was found inside a yellow plastic jug, with another 250grammes of crystallized methamphetamine concealed in a white transparent polythene bag.

Methamphetamine laboratory equipment, which include one approximate volume measuring scale, six heating filters, six giant conical flasks and industrial tubes and cups of sodium hydroxide, were also recovered.
Others are containers of iodine, acetone, hydrochloric acid, weighing scale, masks and hand gloves among others.

Giade said: “Also recovered from him are paraphernalia for drug concealment, similar to the ones seized with drugs at the airports and land borders.

“They include an electronic weighing scale, assorted artefacts, laptop bags, motorcycle parts, air compressors, bus and truck mirrors, araldite and paint, processed brown envelopes and impulse sealer.

“Others are transparent packing nylon and carbon paper, tower foil paper, needles, threads, super glue and many more.”

He further stated that while surveillance on the suspect was ongoing, operatives intercepted 23kg of methamphetamine along Badagry Expressway, Lagos, en-route Cotonou, which was allegedly traced to the suspect.

Assets

Giade stated that the agency had traced some of the assets believed to be purchased with proceeds from drugs.

He said: “These included over 16 bank accounts in different banks, a piece of land located at Joy Avenue, Ajao Estate, which he reportedly bought in 2009 for N25 million and rebuilt in 2012 to a three-storey building at N90 million.

“He also bought a property at St. James Close, Ajao Estate, for 17 million and built a five-bedroom duplex on it at the cost of N25 million. He has a Toyota Venza, a Peugeot 406, a Q5 Audi four runner, and a Toyota Sienna SUV.”

The suspect is reportedly standing trial at the Federal High Court, Lagos, in respect of the seizures, Giade said, adding that some couriers sponsored by him have also been arrested, with some of them in prison custody in China, Turkey and Malaysia.

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/ndlea-busts-global-hard-drugs-syndicate-bizman-arrested/

Lonely beaches.

Cannibal

Mr Bukola 'Sly' Saraki.

The old general has a plan.

Does the land have any documentation? Ow far is it from RCCG camp?

Try first and see

His head looks funny...with his button nose....drama king

Kleptos never learn

Nairaland is so boring today

Some of these governors met this mess since they just resumed about a month ago. As for the others who have been there for a while, what can I say?

chuna1985:
u guess its ur fault then

Hello bastard

That looks like zanga area. I know that place very well. That area is not supposed utilized cos there r so many illegal structures in that area. So it's not the govts fault.

[quote author=benson81 post=34538006]Senator elect Ben Bruce is perplexed why Governor Shettima should join PMB to Germany.he made his thought known via twitter.[/quote

Says the man that can afford to use an electric car in Nigeria.

Next time don't board unregistered vehicles.

If you're pro-biafran you're an enemy of the nation...if you're pro-ndigbo, you don't av a problem. Biafra was created during a war crisis and that is what that name will represent forever.

Rev King and all the biafran captives can go to hell.

Naughtysite:
Not that easy..

That's the primary solution. If it doesn't work, he needs to go for tests.

Beecham Ampiclox...

simdam500:
hun! *runs to check his profile*

Na true ooo... but u no dey talk? just 132 post...

Its only common sense to talk when you have something to say.