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Mystery world of MEND leader,
Henry Okah
•Untold story of his life and struggle
By Daniel Alabrah
Sunday, November 22, 2009
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•Mr
Henry Okah
Photo: Sun News Publishing |
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After weeks and months of being on the trail of the leader of the
Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Mr Henry
Okah, this reporter’s effort paid off this past week.
For almost two years, he had grabbed the headlines following his
arrest in Angola on September 3, 2007 allegedly for arms trafficking.
Okah, who resides in South Africa, was arrested during a business
visit to the country and eventually detained. After more than five
months in the gulag, the Angolan authorities extradited him to Nigeria
on February 17, 2008 to commence a gruelling 17-month secret trial
on charges bordering on treasonable felony and gunrunning.
He however regained his freedom in July this year after the Nigerian
Attorney-General, Mr Michael Aondoakaa, on behalf of the government,
filed a nolle prosequi withdrawing the charges against him, as part
of the unconditional amnesty granted the rampaging militants in
the country’s oil producing region by President Umaru Yar’Adua.
Before the presidential reprieve, the insurgents had wreaked significant
damage to the country’s oil export, cutting production by
almost a quarter during three years of relentless attacks on oil
installations.
Since his release, Sunday Sun had made several fruitless efforts
for an interview date with the man known in militant circles as
the “Overall Master,” the generalissimo of the former
warlords in the Niger Delta. But on Monday afternoon, a phone call
from one of his close associates, which paved the way for a meeting
at an upscale eatery in Lagos, virtually opened the doors for a
munificent peek into the world of the guerilla master strategist.
Our source, also an ex-militant leader, who insisted on his anonymity,
grew up with Henry, the second son of a retired Navy Commander (now
late) in the Tamandu Barracks in Apapa, Lagos, went to primary and
secondary school with him, and eventually followed the Amassoma,
Bayelsa State-born prince and ‘freedom fighter’ into
the Niger Delta struggle.
The trajectory of his life had somehow been divinely cut out for
him even from childhood. As if he knew what lay ahead, Okah, he
said, hated injustice with a passion even as a boy and always fought
any unjust act even when it was not done against him.
A little above 1.7 meters tall, the clean-shaven, well-built and
articulate former warlord added that this was interpreted then as
stubbornness and landed Okah suspension from school countless number
of times. He grew up to become an introvert, a non-conformist and,
today, an enigma of sorts.
A prince
Henry’s parents, now late, hail from Amassoma in Bayelsa State.
The mum is from a royal family and was a wealthy businesswoman,
who built a couple of houses in Lagos. She is an aunt to the impeached
former governor of the state, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.
Henry began his education at a military school, Command Primary
School, Yaba, Lagos, after which he attended St Gregory’s
College, Obalende, Lagos and later the Federal Government College,
Ijanikin, also in Lagos. He attended the Maritime Academy of Nigeria
(MAN), Oron, Akwa Ibom State, where he obtained a degree in Marine
Engineering.
Said our source: “From a very early age, Henry had developed
interest in weapons. He read his father’s military books,
although he never showed any interest in joining the military. But
in school, he was considered as a very stubborn student. At the
FGC, because of his fight against any form of injustice, he was
suspended many times. At a point, the school authorities were so
worried about his character that they took him twice to a psychologist,
who was a doctor, to examine him. But the doctor said nothing was
wrong with him. Henry also played a lot of childhood pranks, which
brought him constantly in confrontation with his dad. Being a naval
officer, he could not tolerate some of them. But despite all these,
Henry was brilliant and did well academically.”
An introvert
The MEND leader is a man of few words. He doesn’t talk much
but he is a great thinker and strategist. Even while in prison,
he, surprisingly, was still able to coordinate MEND’s activities.
He also reads a lot, mostly books on military tactics and weapons.
“Often, he keeps to himself. He does not like publicity and
prefers to operate at the background. We (militant commanders) know
the kind of person he is. He could stay in a room for days without
coming out.
“There was a time he lodged in a hotel in Port Harcourt and
for two weeks he was in his room. The hotel officials became worried
and always came to knock on his door to find out if he was alive.
That is Henry for you.
“This was why he was able to withstand the treatment meted
out to him in Angola and while he was in detention in the military
facility in Bauchi during his trial. They put him in a cell without
windows and in a dungeon with the worst of conditions, all in an
attempt to break his spirit but they could not.”
Arrest in Angola – The Equatorial Guinea connection
Okah’s arrest in oil-rich Angola was reportedly masterminded
by the president of Equatorial Guinea, following the alleged coup
attempt involving the son of former British Prime Minister, Margaret
Thatcher, and another Briton, Simon Mann. The MEND leader was said
to be part of the plot, and the Equatorial Guinea president sought
the help of the Angolan authorities when they learnt he was in the
country. He wanted Okah brought to Malabo and for him to be given
the Mann treatment.
According to our source, it was not Nigeria that originally connived
with Angola to arrest Okah. It was after the Equatorial Guinea president
learnt from intelligence sources that the Niger Delta militants
would attack the country if Okah was brought there that he told
the Angolan authorities to hand him over Nigeria.
“You know, from the time of former President (Olusegun) Obasanjo,
the government had had Okah on their list. Obasanjo tried severally
to arrest him but did not succeed. The Nigerian government under
Yar’Adua did not have any charge against him at the time of
his arrest in Angola. That was why his trial was in camera, so they
could fish for charges.
“Another reason was that the person (names withheld) who tipped
off the Nigerian government that Henry had been arrested in Angola
had reportedly promised to be a witness if the trial was held in
secret. But the plot failed. As part of the conspiracy against Henry,
some soldiers were later accused of selling arms to militants. They
were court-martialed and jailed, all in the bid to implicate Henry.”
Failed attempts to arrest him
“He could have been arrested earlier in 2007 during the burial
of his dad in Amassoma. Two well-known militant leaders (names withheld)
had betrayed him and disclosed his whereabouts to the SSS. They
collected money and informed the SSS that Henry will be attending
his dad’s burial. But despite being tipped off by someone,
Henry was determined to go to Amassoma. So he alongside about 100
other armed fighters rode in boats at night to his village. By the
time they got there, the SSS and soldiers were everywhere. That
night, Henry was carrying an AK-47 as well as other fighters. They
could have killed him that night but when they saw how armed our
fighters were, they made a tactical retreat and called for reinforcement.
Before the reinforcement came from Elele (in Rivers State), Henry
had seen the corpse of his dad and left the village with the fighters
back into the creeks. So those who say he is a businessman and not
a fighter are being economical with the truth. But the fact remains
that he is the leader and is not supposed to be in our camps always.
As a ‘General,’ he could command the fighters from wherever
he is.”
How militants stormed Kuje Prisons
“Let me give you another instance. When (Mujaheed) Dokubo-Asari
was being held at the Kuje Prisons in Abuja by the Obasanjo government,
Henry mobilized our boys to storm the prison to release him. We
wanted to embarrass Obasanjo. But Dokubo-Asari chickened out at
the last minute for fear that he could be hit by stray bullets in
the event of a cross fire with soldiers. You can ask Asari if you
don’t believe me. But we could have released him that day
after blowing up the prison with dynamites. We were about 22 initially
but only seven eventually went for the operation. Henry and I were
in the team. You can confirm with Asari.”
Henry, the power bike rider
For ten years, between 1996 and 2006, he lived in his own house
in Agbara Estate in Lagos but his neighbours did not know who he
was. Right under their nose was one of the most dreaded militant
leaders and wanted men in the country. They only know him as the
power bike man. Henry loves power bikes, and had many. Whenever
he was leaving home, he would kit up in his big helmet and other
accessories, which invariably masked his identity, and zoomed off.
His wife, Enugu State-born Azuka, is also a power bike rider, and
the couple always took a jolly ride on their speedy bikes. It is
not that Henry does not have cars but he simply loves the bike and
uses a car only when it rains. The bubble, however, burst the day
operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) raided the house
in one of their failed attempts to arrest him. Most of his neighbours,
our source said, were shocked to discover who he was.
“He is a quiet and very reserved person. Like I said earlier,
he does not like unnecessary publicity. So he lived in that house
for 10 years and did not attract any attention to himself. It was
from that place he got involved in the Ijaw cause even during the
Ijaw-Itsekiri crisis in Delta State. Okah was one of those who ensured
the Ijaws were not disgraced in that conflict. Tompolo and some
Ijaw leaders in Delta State can confirm this.
This was even before MEND was formed. His neighbours, who did not
know who he was, saw Henry as a power bike freak, and he has many
of such bikes in Nigeria and in South Africa. His wife also rides
the bike.”
Wedded in jeans
One thing about the MEND leader is that he does not follow the crowd
to do what they do simply because he wants to be noticed. He likes
doing his own thing and independently too, as he does not believe
that the society must approve of his actions. He shocked his friends,
family members and in-laws when he wedded his wife in 1999. The
MEND leader unconventionally appeared in jeans trousers and blazer
at his wedding, which took place at an Anglican Church on Lagos
Island.
“To tell you that he does not follow the bandwagon, when Henry
wedded he did not wear a suit or tie. He wedded in 1999 at the Anglican
Church near the TBS (Tafawa Balewa Square) in Lagos. He simply came
in jeans trousers and a blazer. That was perhaps the first time
he was even wearing something that looked like a suit. He is a jeans
and casuals person. He loves T-shirts and simple clothes.
Why he lives in South Africa
Okah prepared himself psychologically for the battle ahead. Like
a clairvoyant, when MEND was formed in 2005, he knew that one of
the challenges will be his immediate family. So he had to relocate
his wife and children from Nigeria in order not to be distracted.
“Henry moved his family to South Africa as a personal sacrifice
for the Niger Delta struggle. He felt that having them around might
distract him because of what was ahead. He knew it was a battle
of life and death and he did not want his family to interfere. In
a whole year at times, he spends not more than 20 days with his
wife and children in South Africa.”
Crisis in MEND
“There is no crisis within MEND, neither is there a faction.
Who will constitute the faction? Is it those that have already disarmed?
Of course, they can no longer speak for MEND except they are saying
they want to go back to the creeks. But we are now in the dialogue
phase and have said we want to give the government time to see what
it can do in the Niger Delta.
“All those making noise now know why they are doing that.
The command structure of MEND is such that everyone knows where
he belongs in the hierarchy. It is well structured.
“The noise you have been hearing is all about the Aaron Team.
The truth is that some persons, including some of those that have
surrendered their weapons, feel threatened that the Aaron Team will
scuttle their plan to make money from the amnesty and post-amnesty
programme of the government. Some of the so-called ex-militant leaders
and some disgruntled politicians in the Niger Delta had already
positioned themselves to reap financially from the programme by
putting forward to the government ideas that would benefit only
them. I don’t want to mention names but I can tell you that
is their intention.
“So, when Yar’Adua decided to meet (Vice Admiral Mike)
Akhigbe, (Wole) Soyinka, retired General Kakadu and the others in
the team, they felt jittery. These are men of integrity who we believe
will represent very well the interest of not only the Niger Delta
but that of the country in the dialogue with government. They are
not persons that can be easily compromised unlike some of those
that had been meeting with the government. That is why you see them
attacking Okah, JG (Jomo Gbomo) and even Farah in the media to create
the impression of a crisis. Mind you, Okah and Farah who attended
the first meeting with the president are not in the Aaron Team.
Their presence was merely strategic at that meeting, and even then
Okah did not speak at all even asked to do so.
“The other reason for the attack is the dropping of Annkio
Briggs from the team. She is a respected Niger Delta activist and
that was why she was initially appointed as MEND liaison in the
team. But I think she lost hope when the government initially said
it was not going to discuss with the Aaron Team and she did some
things that were not too encouraging. Really, she is somebody we
respect as a mother and I don’t want to talk much about her.”
The overall master
The militants operate like a cult group where respect for order
and hierarchy is very vital to their survival. The ‘Generals’
or ‘Commanders’ know the fighters in their camps and
their domain. But regardless of the respect accorded them by the
boys in their camps, they all know who the boss is. Some of them
are called ‘Master’ by their boys but Okah is referred
to even by the commanders as ‘Overall Master’ or ‘Oga’
(boss).
“Truly, Henry is our oga and we call him the overall master.
Some of our boys refer to us as master but we still call Henry master
because of the role he has played in our cause. There is no one
among us who has made more sacrifice than him, and this is the truth
whether some of us like it or not.”
Relaxation
“Henry likes draught game, and he uses it to relax and think.
He doesn’t play chess that much but draught is his favourite.
When he was living in Nigeria, he used to play draught with drivers
and conductors at the Okokomaiko area of Lagos. So the day they
saw his photograph in the papers, they were confused. They were
not sure he was the one. Some of them thought it was even his brother.
Apart from this, he likes shooting. He goes to the range in South
Africa to exercise himself whenever he is there.”
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