Okah claims SA did not have trial jurisdiction

Convicted Nigerian terrorist Henry Okah (54) is launching an application seeking to declare SA had no jurisdiction to try him for bombings in the strife-torn Niger Delta region. The Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) convicted and handed Okah a 24-year sentence in March 2013 for bombings that killed 12 people and injured 36 in Nigeria, notes a City Press report. Okah was convicted on 13 counts of terrorism, including engaging in terrorist activities, conspiracy to engage in terrorist activities, and delivering, placing and detonating an explosive device, relating to two car bombs detonated in Abuja, Nigeria, on 1 October 2010, the anniversary of the country’s independence. He is the de facto leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta. According to Okah’s court papers, his trial should have been conducted in the International Criminal Court (ICC) and he should have been charged under international humanitarian law. He has applied for a declaratory order. Okah was charged and convicted under the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Act but he argues that the ICC is the only institution suited to intervene between a rebel and a country. A date for the case has not been set.