Nigerian authorities have arrested the brother of an ex-militant leader implicated in recent deadly car bombings, alleging he is behind threats on behalf of MEND rebels, security sources said Sunday.
Charles Okah was arrested on Saturday in Lagos, security sources familiar with the case told AFP on condition of anonymity.
His wife also confirmed the arrest and said four others — Okah’s son, Boloebi, 23, his son’s friend, Sola Ladoja, a house aide and a friend — were taken into custody as well.
Angela Uchechi Okah denied her husband had any role in MEND activities and said she has not been able to contact him since his arrest.
Charles Okah is the brother of Henry Okah, the former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) arrested in South Africa the day after the October 1 independence day twin blasts. He is accused of playing a key role in the bombings that killed at least 12 people.
Charles Okah “was arrested after the bomb alert emails and text messages were traced to him,” one of the security sources told AFP, adding authorities considered him a MEND spokesman.
Nigeria’s intelligence agency and police could not be reached for comment.
According to the sources, authorities suspect Charles Okah of being among the authors of statements issued on behalf of MEND.
The statements usually come from the same email address and are signed with what is believed to be an alias, Jomo Gbomo.
One such statement warned of the independence day car bombings about an hour before they occurred, while another later claimed responsibility.
On Friday, a statement on behalf of MEND warned of a new attack in the capital Abuja, while claiming the government had wrongly implicated opponents of President Goodluck Jonathan in the earlier blasts.
Charles Okah’s wife told AFP more than 10 armed, plains-clothed security agents raided their Lagos home Saturday. She alleged that the agents beat the four others taken in and “pointed a gun at my husband, threatening to shoot him.”
“He was handcuffed and leg-chained when they took him away,” she added.
She said the agents took mobile phones, documents and computers.
“Charles Okah is not involved in the activities of MEND or in the bomb blasts that took place in Abuja,” she said. “He is also not Jomo Gbomo of MEND. He is a businessman.”
She said her husband was a “representative of an American company dealing in floating docks. He did not have money to fund such things as MEND or bomb planting.”
“I have have not had any contact with my husband since they took him away yesterday,” she added. “I am beginning to feel that they want to rope in all members of the Okah family.”
There has long been suspicion that Henry Okah was among the authors of MEND statements. He has denied involvement, both in the statements as well as the car bombings.
In court in South Africa last week, a prosecutor read portions of what was alleged to be Henry Okah’s diary. One excerpt made reference to Charles Okah.
“My brother Charles has faked my voice and has been collecting money and negotiating a ceasefire claiming to be me,” it was alleged to have said. “What treachery is this?”
In a phone interview from a Johannesburg prison with AFP on Sunday, Henry Okah alleged his arrest was due to “the Nigerian government’s belief that I’m working on the side of the opposition” ahead of elections early next year.
MEND claims to be fighting for a fairer distribution of oil revenue in the deeply impoverished Niger Delta, the heart of the country’s oil industry.
It has carried out scores of attacks in the Niger Delta in recent years, but this month’s bombings were the first such incident in the capital Abuja.
Authorities call the militant group “amorphous” and it is believed to have splintered, especially over a government amnesty offered last year.