Okah writes from prison, dismisses Buhari
Imprisoned Niger Delta militant leader, Henry Okah, has written to the people of Niger Delta and Nigerians from Kokstad Prison, Kwa-zulu, Natal, South Africa, saying President Muhammadu Buhari cannot save Nigeria.
The jailed militant leader, who called for a coalition of Nigerians to rescue the country, had his hope of freedom from South African prison dashed when the Constitutional Court recently dismissed his appeal.
Okah’s letter dated February 23 and made available by the spokesman of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Jomo Gbomo, narrated his ordeals in prison and insisted that his arrest, detention and imprisonment were politically motivated from Nigeria.
While hinting that his lawyers have been instructed to seek redress in the International Court of Justice, he alleged that former President Goodluck Jonathan recently visited South Africa to “ensure my continued internment in this country at all costs.”
He said, like most Nigerians that hope in a future for Nigeria, he had supported President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, noting, however, that the hope in Buhari has been in vain.
“Like most Nigerians and despite my incarceration, I had supported the election of President Buhari and believed it would assist the country to change its trajectory, but this hope proved to be in vain.
“It is incumbent on all Nigerians for our sake and the sake of our children and those to come to rise with one voice and resist the corrupt and the less than mediocre leadership of our country by criminals who have, since independence, continue to auction the resources of Nigeria and the freedom of its people. The injustice in Nigeria is not limited to the Niger Delta as that region is but a microcosm of the deplorable state of the country.
“A united Nigeria possesses the potential to ascend to greater heights under good leadership. We must all unite to reject selfish attempts by individuals or sectors of our society to fragment our country,” he said.
Okah, who lamented that he has been maltreated in the prison and starved vowed that, “such inhuman treatment will never dampen my resolve nor kill my fighting spirit.”
He said he was prepared to pay ultimate price of death and expressed optimism that he would one day be free and “continue to fight alongside patriots loyal to the cause for a just and free Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, Gbomo in a statement, expressed disappointment at the ruling of the Constitutional Court of South Africa on the Okah case and “ask our patriotic comrades to remain calm as this matter is far from over.”
