'Okah too sick to meet Yar'Adua'
From Martins Oloja, Kelechi Okoronkwo (Abuja), Onajomo Orere, Wole Shadare, Alex Olise (Lagos), Niyi Bello (Akure), Lawrence Njoku (Enugu) and RoseAnn Chikereuba (Port-Harcourt)
CONTRARY to expectations, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and freed leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Mr. Henry Okah, are yet to meet.
According to Mr. Wilson Ajuwa, one of the militant's lawyers, Okah is resting in Abuja because of his weak state of health.
Ajuwa, however, refused to disclose Okah's location.
Yar'Adua had said that he would personally receive any militant who embraced his June 25, 2009 amnesty proclamation. He ordered last week the immediate release from detention and discontinuance of the treason trial of Okah at the Federal High Court, Jos, Plateau State. The order was effected by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa (SAN) who went to the court to enter a nolle prosequi that brought to an end Okah's 23-month detention and trial.
Ajuwa said that on the part of the defence team, they were not enthusiastic that Okah has to meet the President.
Okah who was detained during the period at the 33 Armoured Brigade, Bauchi, Bauchi State, according to Defence sources, was guarded round the clock by a contingent of well-armed soldiers, with snipers perched on roof tops day and night.
And in the days of Okah's appearance in court in Jos, the sources said, it was as if troops were going to war. He was sequestered between vans carrying well-kitted troops in the front and the rear and a bomb disposal squad was on standby at the court premises.
Asked why that was so, the sources said that it was because of government's perception of MEND that Okah represented as capable of doing anything embarrassing. "That was why government insisted on secret trial of the man abnitio. It was the same reason government was opposed to Okah's case being transferred to Bayelsa State as requested by the defence team led by Mr. Femi Falana and Ajuwa.
Okah, after his release on Monday, said that he alone could not guarantee peace in the Niger Delta.
In the meantime, the Federal Government has shed more light on Okah's dramatic release. A statement yesterday by the amnesty panel Media Coordinator, Dr. Timiebi Koripamo-Agarry, gave some details: "At about 9:15pm on Monday, July 13, 2009, Henry Okah was released by the Federal Government. His release follows his acceptance of the unconditional Amnesty granted by President Yar'adua. This development demonstrates that the Amnesty offer is fully on course and making progress. Henry Okah, now a free man, is in support of the process.
"This is an important milestone in the effort to achieve peace and development in the Niger Delta. It is certainly the most far-reaching initiative by any government in the history of the country to confront the concerns at the heart of the Niger Delta issues. It deserves to be supported by all Nigerians.
"Though certainly an unfortunate development, the Federal Committee on Amnesty is not discouraged by the recent attack in Lagos. We did not expect any quick fixes in a situation so complex and deeply rooted".
It added: "The attacks should be placed in context against other positive developments which are also occurring such as the growing number of militants who have expressed their willingness to take advantage of the amnesty. The Committee has received numerous enquiries from many of them and they have expressed their support even as they have sought clarification on some issues".
"It is also important to remember that the amnesty is not a stand alone solution and has never been proposed as such. The process involves Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration, an internationally recognised long term process of which social and economic reintegration of ex-militants forms the largest component. It also involves development and social service delivery through federal and state government agencies supported by the private sector. Peace will accelerate this process".
"The bottom line is that peace will bring development which will in turn bring the infrastructure, the jobs, the schools, the factories and the other things which the Niger Delta needs so badly".
Also, worried by last Sunday's attack of the Atlas Cove jetty gantry in Lagos by MEND, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) yesterday said it has beefed up security in the country's airports.
The agency stated that the measure was part of its renewed security measures at the nation's 22 airports in collaboration with other security agencies, following the Monday attack on the Atlas Cove jetty in Lagos.
FAAN's Managing Director , Mr. Richard Aisuebeogun, who received the new Commissioner of Police, Nigeria Police Anti-bomb Squad, Mr. Chris Olakpe, in his office in Lagos yesterday ,expressed concern over the evolving security challenges in some parts of the country.
Aisuebeogun hinted that the authority has directed all its aviation security officers to be on the alert for any suspicious baggage and packages in their efforts aimed at enhancing safety and security at the airports and their environs.
Olakpe, in his remark, hinted that his department would in due course take delivery of some explosive detectors and 28 vehicles, which would be configured for explosive ordinance disposal at the airports.
He disclosed that more policemen and officers would soon be deployed in the airports to boost security measures at the nation's borders.
The police boss, however, solicited FAAN's support and all other stakeholders in ensuring safety and security at the airports, adding, "If we put hands together, we'll be above the turbulent waters."
Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Naval Defence has called for assistance of state governments in providing logistics supports for naval formations located in their territories.
While condemning the attack on the Atlas Cove jetty which is located near a naval formation and which was being guarded by the Navy, the committee expressed regrets that militancy could be carried to such "a dangerously ridiculous extent as to undermine the security of the nation which every patriotic Nigerian should jealously guard."
The committee said although defence of the country's territorial integrity was on the exclusive list, "sometimes assistance of state governments which are the immediate beneficiaries of increased security in such locations are needed to lessen the burden of the enormous task."
The committee, which was in Akure, Ondo State capital on a tour of naval formations in the state as part of its oversight functions, also paid a courtesy visit to Governor Olusegun Mimiko where the request for states assistance was made.
Committee Chairman, who represents Ondo North Senatorial District in the Senate, Dr. Bode Olajumoke, said the assistance, particularly in the area of provision of infrastructural facilities, was necessary in order to have smooth running of operations in the various bases across the country.
Olajumoke, who was accompanied on the tour by other committee members, including its Vice Chairman, Tanko Ayuba, specifically called on the state government to provide assistance to the naval formation which is the only security outpost in the state's 80-kilometre coastal stretch.
The committee also visited the Forward Operational Base (FOB) in Igbokoda headquarters of oil-producing Ilaje Local Council.
The committee also expressed the displeasure of the Senate to the idea of returning unspent budgetary allocations to the treasury after the end of each fiscal year, saying this is not good enough for the growth of the country.
And to discourage this, Olajumoke, who addressed reporters after the courtesy visit, said the upper chamber has directed all ministries, parastatals and agencies of government "to ensure judicious and timely use of the funds allocated to them to avoid this phenomenon."
Stressing that the Senate would no longer accept a situation where funds are returned to the treasury as unspent while approved projects suffer, Olajumoke said: "We are keen on ensuring that whatever money appropriated would be judiciously expended, that is why we have embarked on the series of visits. We want to see how far they have performed.
"The concept of money being refunded at the end of the year is not acceptable. These are tax-payers' monies. We have identified what they should be used for and the money should not only be spent on them, it should be spent timely", he said.
Mimiko, who spoke through the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Aderotimi Adelola, appealed to naval authorities to help stem the high incidence of armed robbery and kidnapping in the state while pledging the support of government to the operations of the FOB.
Also, security agencies have begun searching black spots in Lagos State with a view to identifying suspected militants who disguise in military uniforms to beat security.
Defence sources told The Guardian yesterday that the fresh operation would be carried out by the military police, one of the major units of the Nigerian Army.
The officers are to question anyone with Army camouflage with a view to getting his true identity.
Recently, the Military Police in Lagos arrested nine persons parading the streets of Lagos in army uniforms, which are of make with genuine Army personnel's.
They were paraded recently at the Bonny Camp parade ground and were later handed over to the Nigerian Police for prosecution. Statistics made available to The Guardian by Defence authorities revealed that 50 fake army officers have been arrested in parts of Lagos within the past six months.
The Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, 81 Division of the Nigerian Army, Lt.-Col. Kingsley Umoh, told journalists recently that henceforth, the Army will do everything possible to flush out those impersonating the Army using fake uniforms.
Alarmed by increasing rate of kidnapping in the zone, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) South-East Zone has appealed to the Federal Government to beef up security in the zone as a way of stemming the tide.
It stated that the call has become imperative with the most recent kidnap of the Catholic Bishop of Okigwe Diocese, Bishop Samuel Amatu and Chief Press Secretary to Enugu State Governor, Dan Nwomeh.
In a statement in Enugu yesterday by the CLO's Zonal Director, Olu Omotayo, it stated that the issue has assumed a more dangerous dimension with the kidnap of the bishop.
In a related development, the Rivers State chapter of the Action Congress (AC) has commended the Federal Government over the release of MEND's leader, Mr. Henry Okah.
The party also applauded the Federal Government for withdrawing all the treason and felony charges against Okah.
The AC in a statement yesterday signed by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, the party described Okah's release as timely and an indication of the Federal Government's interest to restore lasting peace to the Niger Delta region.
Eze stated that the arrest of the MEND leader only increased violence and crisis in the region and did not yield any good.
He said with Okah's release, the expected peace and development in the region would be accelerated.
