Nigerian rebel leader released from jail
ABUJA, Nigeria: Nigeria's government freed a prominent rebel leader from jail Monday, his lawyer said, meeting a demand by insurgents who have been attacking the country's oil installations and kidnapping oil workers.
|
 A member of the Nigerian navy patrols an oil depot alongside pipelines damaged in an attack by Niger delta militants, in Lagos, Nigeria, Monday, July 13, 2009. [Agencies]  |
But it was unclear what had motivated the government to make the concession because the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, or MEND, rebels have said that Henry Okah's release would not lead them to end their attacks in Africa's top oil producing nation.
Rebels set fire to an oil depot and loading tankers Sunday in the country's populous economic center of Lagos, killing five people, in the group's first attack outside the Delta region.
Okah was freed from jail Monday and the nation's attorney general had dropped the treason and gun running charges he was facing, lawyer Femi Falana told The Associated Press.
"We and the accused person have reached an amicable solution," Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa said.
Last month, Yar'Adua announced a 60-day amnesty for militants willing to lay down their arms. But MEND dismissed the offer, saying an amnesty should be aimed at criminals, not "freedom fighters" and that its own members would not negotiate.
Okah was arrested in Angola in September 2006 and repatriated to Nigeria for trial.
Earlier this year, MEND had said Okah was suffering from a kidney ailment and needed urgent medical treatment abroad.
After his release, Okah told reporters he couldn't predict if he could help find a solution to the conflict.
"There is absolutely nothing I can say now, I have to see people, speak with people, go into the real world before I can talk," Okah said. "I am just one man; there are millions in the Niger delta."
A MEND spokesman said the group "is grateful to God that the trumped-up charges" have been dropped.
"Now he will be able to deal with his health (and) spend time with his family," Jomo Gbomo said in an e-mail. "MEND considers this release as a step towards genuine peace and prosperity if Nigeria is open to frank talks and deal sincerely with the root issues once and for all."
But the group had said Thursday it would continue its attacks, even if the rebel leader was released.
Militant groups in the delta region say they are fighting to force the federal government to devote more oil-industry funds to the southern region, which remains deeply poor despite its natural bounty.
Sunday's attack in Lagos killed three naval officers and two oil workers, officials said.
The rebels said in an e-mail Monday that their first attack outside the restive Niger Delta region had targeted the depot and the tankers at the Atlas Cove Jetty in the city's harbor.
The Nigeria National Petroleum Corp. confirmed the attack, saying it was under investigation.
An AP reporter who visited the site Monday morning said the fire was extinguished, but the oil depot was charred and the air smelled of burning oil. There were no loading tankers visible.
Ken Odaga, a villager who lives near the platform, said he heard a "huge boom" Sunday night.
"I saw three speed boats with militants off the coast. They were fighting with the naval officers with guns. Next there was an explosion with big smoke," Odaga said in an interview.
Earlier this month, the militants attacked an oil facility and a newly repaired Chevron pipeline following a vow to step up their attacks, as part of an operation dubbed "Hurricane Moses."
The government says most of the militants are criminals who use politics to mask their true intentions — the lucrative theft and overseas sale of crude oil stolen from Nigeria's network of wells and pipelines.
Past militant attacks on oil infrastructure in the area have trimmed output in Africa's biggest oil producer by about 25 percent.
