OPINION: Who Is Afraid Of Henry Okah And Why?

BY CHIGACHI EKE

Introduction

On 1st October 2025, a petition was hand-delivered at the Union Building where Cyril Ramaphosa works as South African President. The petition by the Ijaw Nation Forum, INF, demanding the immediate, unconditional and safe release of the Ijaw-born Prisoner of War, POW, called Henry Emomotimi Okah illegally imprisoned in South Africa. The petition echoed the collective sentiments of the over 24 million citizens of the Ijaw Nation. Signatories included HRM King Alfred Diete-Spiff; HRM King Oweipa Jones-Ere, Ogboin III; three former IYC presidents; and one hundred and fifty-one others.

It was nothing short of heroic that KaboweiAkamande, a US-based Ijaw activist, carried that petition from Ijawland to Tshwane (Pretoria) and traveled back to Ijawland safely considering that Ramaphosa as former Chairman of the MTN Group colluded with former President Goodluck, former President Jacob Zuma, International Oil Companies, IOCs, etc, to illegally jail Okah. Bribes were offered and taken to compromise the court process (see “Henry Okah: How MTN, ANC, South African Judiciary, Oil Multinationals and Jonathan Conspired to Perpetuate Scam of the Century and Subvert Niger Delta Struggle).

As Ijaws were jolted into questioning the transparency of the judicial process that convicted their son, in the wake of the INF petition, some Ijaw political leaders teamed up with their ex-militant counterparts to denounce Okah as traitor. The three charges they leveled against him are: One, that Okah was just a businessman who never participated in the Ijaw armed struggle except as a rapacious arms dealer selling guns to both parties during the Ijaw-Itsekiri War, 1997-1999. They alleged the guns he sold Itsekiris were used in killing Ijaw fighters. Two, that Okah was never the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND. His association with MEND was limited to receiving payments for the ordnance he supplied. They urged Ijaws to abandon agitations for his release as the Ijaw National Congress, INC, and Ijaw Youth Council, IYC will not help him. And three, that Okah’s mortal sin was ordering the detonation of bombs in 2010 at Warri and Abuja with the aim of scuttling the presidential ambition of Jonathan, the first Ijaw man to rule Nigeria.

To destroy these false charges levelled against the foremost patriot of the Ijaw Nation and peoples of the Niger Delta, this article will: (a) Give a balanced definition of revolution as a way of situating Okah within the Ijaw armed struggle. (b) Tender incontrovertible testimonies made by Nigerian government-sponsored state witnesses before the compromised South African South Gauteng High Court that convicted Okah. The state witnesses included Ijaws like GodsdayOrubebe. Others were ex-militants Selekaye Victor Ben and Raphael Damfebo. And (c) Expose the selfish reasons why the purveyors of the anti-Okah narrative fear his release.

Three Agents of Revolution/Armed Struggle

Professor Lawrence Ekpebu identified three principal agents whose actions engender revolution (see Ekpebu’s “Zaire and the African Revolution”). The first agent is the Prophet who dreams and defines the revolution. He may never live to witness the glorious day but his successors will actualize it. Jomo Kenyatta was the Prophet of the Mau Mau Revolution; just as Dr Harold Dappa-Biriye and, in recent time, Charles and Henry Okah (siblings) were Prophets of the Ijaw armed Struggle.

The second agent is the Diplomat who builds alliances around the vision of the Prophet. He explains to friendly institutions and countries what their struggle is all about and why it must be supported. Malcom X, Steve Biko, Nnamdi Kanu, Aisha Yusufu, etc, are all Diplomats of Struggles. As unarmed intellectuals, they are often killed but their power of persuasion is undeniable.

Diplomats of the 21st Century Ijaw nationalism include Dr Felix Tuodolo, Isaac “Sankara” Osuaka, Oronto Douglas, Uche Onyeagocha, KaboweiAkamande, etc. These are scholars who addressed the world on the Ijaw struggle for environmental and political justice. In the Diaspora, Ijaw nationalism flourished due to the efforts of Diplomats like Nyengiebi Felicia Akamande who midwifed and steered the affairs of INC of the Americas for 7 years at a time when it was not fashionable to identify with Ijaw nationalism in the Americas.

The third agent is the Military Genius/Soldier who, impatient with the jaw-jaw of the Diplomat, fires the first shot to unleash the looming war-war. Dedan Kimathi, Nelson Mandela, Isaac Adaka Boro, JJ Rawlings, Henry Okah, Field Marshall John Gideon Okello, Chris Hani, etc, were all Military Geniuses.

Can there be serious discussion on Ijaw nationalism without mentioning the revered Dr Biriye (Prophet), Dr Tuodolo (Diplomat) or Akamande (Diplomat) just because they never carried guns? It is wrong erasing the Prophet and Diplomat leaving only the Military Genius. However, it is rare for a Prophet or Diplomat to transform into a Military Genius because intellectuals, by character and learning, detest violence. That is why Fidel Castro (Lawyer turned Soldier), Che Guevara (Medical Doctor turned Soldier) and Okah (Marine Engineer turned Soldier) are exceptional cases. Okah is the only Scholar-Soldier of the Ijaw armed struggle in the 21st Century.

What was said in South Gauteng High Court

Revelations of the flawed 21st January 2013 judgment of the South Gauteng High Court, Registrar’s Ref No: SS94/2011, DPP’s Ref No: JPV2011/0158, titled “In the Matter Between: THE STATE AND HENRY EMOMOTIMI OKAH The Accused,” issued by C.J. CLAASSEN, are diametrically opposed to the blatant lies being peddled against Okah.

One, Okah’s accusers claimed he was just a businessman and never part of the Ijaw armed Struggle. This lie is destroyed by the following paragraphs of the judgement:

1. PARAGRAPH 77 contains Orubebe’s statement: “MEND was an umbrella body consisting of all the militant groups in the Niger Delta. The leadership of MEND was chaired by the accused and Government Ekpemupolo (aka, Tompolo).”

2. PARAGRAPH 195 contains the claim of Selekaye Victor Ben (“Sele”) (The brother of Ebikabowei Victor Ben (aka Boyloaf): “The accused was the overall leader of MEND and was known as the ‘General Master.’” Sele and Raphael Damfebo confirmed to the court that even whilst in detention in Nigeria, Okah remained the leader of MEND and was superior to all militants including Tompolo and Asari Dokubo. This assertion was repeated in Boyloaf’s statement to the Department of State Service (DSS), where he stated that military operations were either planned or authorised by Okah alone.

Two: Ijaw political and ex-militant leaders claimed Okah should expect no help from the INC and IYC because he sold guns to Itsekiris. This is a lie. Could Orubebebefriend Okah in 1998/1999 knowing the latter was selling guns to Itsekiris for use in killing Ijaw fighters? Okah was initially against the war. He only intervened on the side of Ijaw fighters when thousands of fighters belonging to the Odua People’s Congress, OPC, reinforced Itsekiris to decimate Ijaws. The following excerpts are instructive:

(a) PARAGRAPH 76 observes: “Orubebe stated that the accused is his friend. They first met in 1998/1999 when there was conflict between two tribal groups in the Niger Delta.” However, Orubebe never told the court that Okah was introduced to him by his own younger brother called Kennedy Orubebe; following a meeting Okah held with Timinimi George, Frank Omare and Kennedy Orubebe. In this meeting Okah suggested establishing a Military Force for the Ijaw Nation. Importantly, by this period the Ijaw Nation was so impoverished it could not afford even ten rifles.

(b) PARAGRAPH 197 contains Sele’s claim that Okah armed a Pan-Ijaw Army without collecting monies for his weapons: “Sele worked for the accused by facilitating logistical arrangements for the supply of arms and ammunition, military uniform and other attire to militants via Fara Dagogo and Boyloaf…. All weapons used by MEND were supplied by the accused.”

Our Argument

One, the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, recognizes Okah as POW for these reasons: (a) He was an active combatant in the ongoing Niger Delta conflict. (b) The conflict persists because its causes are not resolved. (c) Between 2016 and 2017, nine new militant groups came into existence. (d) To eliminate these new groups, Nigerian government engaged Private Military Companies, PMCs. (e) The activities of PMCs in 2026, ipso facto, means Amnesty did not end hostilities. (f) The INF demand for its POW to come home is legitimate (see “Conflict in the Niger Delta,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_in_the_Niger_Delta. Retrieved Wednesday 28th January 2026).

Two, what profit-minded businessman rejects a free oil block that could fetch him billions of dollars only to settle for pittance selling guns? Okah confided in his Ijaw brothers, shortly after accepting Amnesty, that President Umaru Yar’Adua, in the presence of Nduka Obaigbena, attempted to bribe him with offer of oil block to abandon the Ijaw armed struggle. He left Yar’Adua and resumed his armed struggle convinced the government’s offer to develop the Niger Delta was duplicitous. Today, those tagging the principled Okah as “rapacious” are over the moon being given crumbs as pipeline surveillance contractors (security men for the thieving oppressors).

Three, assuming without conceding that guns at the disposal of MEND fighters were provided by Okah, did anyone ask how he funded the purchases or do weapons fall from trees? What was wrong in Okah asking MEND to pay for the very weapons in the hands of its fighters? Prosecuting war is capital intensive. Did MEND pay for the food, medicine, fuel and watercraft used by its fighters? If the answer is yes; then why single out Okah for vilification?

Four, none is saying Orubebe and Sele lied as state witnesses. But they owe their people equal explanation repeating at home what they said abroad anytime opportunists distort the truth. Abdul Abubakar, Deputy Director of the DSS, told the court Nigerian government was confused about Okah’s motivation arming and leading an Ijaw Army; especially as Okah was not a politician and never received kobo for weapons he supplied MEND.

Five, it was the Okah Wars that frightened the Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba Duopoly to front Jonathan as Vice President to Yar’Adua over Dr Peter Odili. Without Okah no Ijaw man would have been so privileged. But the moment the same Jonathan conspired with the corrupt Zuma to jail Okah in 2013, he lost strategic values and the Duopoly removed him from office in 2015.

Six, if the hues and cries are that Okah ordered the detonation of bombs to scuttle Jonathan’s presidential ambition, we must equally raise the issue of how Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo conspired with the British to scuttle the presidential ambition of Okah’s cousin, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha. Was an injury on Alamieyeseigha no longer an injury on the Ijaw Nation?

Seven, one wonders why Frank Omare, Kennedy Orubebe, Caroline Bakumo, etc, are silent amidst this madness. They are well informed about Okah’s true contribution to the Niger Delta struggle. But posterity will favourably judge Okah, a patriot unjustly vilified by propaganda spat out of the venomous mouths of his detractors.

And eight, if Okah was never part of the Ijaw armed struggle why are the peddlers of this falsehood fearful of his release? His home coming will shift the Center of Gravity in the region and larger Nigeria. Who dared give or take pipeline surveillance contracts with Okah’s dreadful eyeballs burning bright in his head?

Eke, Phone: 081 3515 9313; Email: chigachieke@yahoo.co.uk; writes from Port Harcourt.

Mr Kabowei Akamande standing in front of Union Building, Tshwane (Pretoria), after handing the petition by the Ijaw Nation Forum, INF, to the office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, 1st October 2025.