He can move the oil price, give warning of car bombs and shape the political battle for control of Africa’s biggest energy producer. Yet the most remarkable thing about Jomo Gbomo, spokesman for the militants of Nigeria’s oil province, is that he does not exist.
E-mails from Jomo’s Yahoo address, such as those claiming responsibility for recent deadly explosions in Abuja, the capital, have between three and five authors, people close to the militants say
But one figure is intimately linked to the pseudonym, whose messages – sprinkled with references to the book of Ecclesiastes and bellicose flourishes – have broadcast the demands of the Niger delta’s armed groups around the globe.
Henry Okah, who has been charged in South Africa with direct involvement in the bombings in Abuja on independence day, had a dual role when militant groups formed the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta in 2006, say insiders and security experts. First, he was gunrunner-in-chief. Second, he controlled propaganda.
Blowing up pipelines, kidnapping expatriates and stealing billions of dollars of crude, Mend helped cut Nigeria’s output by up to 40 per cent. Jomo’s messages were crucial to framing the efforts of a loose network of criminal syndicates, political thugs, oil thieves and genuine rebels within the delta’s struggle against poverty and pollution.
Peter Sharwood-Smith, country manager for security consultants Drum Cussac, says: “The frequent statements made Mend the most accessible militant group ever to operate in Nigeria and raised their profile significantly.”
Most Mend commanders accepted last year’s amnesty that drew thousands of armed youths from bases in the delta’s creeks. But one faction, often linked to Mr Okah, remains active. It retains a potent weapon: Jomo.
Goodluck Jonathan, the first president to hail from the delta, has portrayed the Abuja bombers as “terrorists” posing as Mend.
When the former militant top brass appeared at the presidential palace to bolster that claim, one leader, Boyloaf, declared Jomo “a ghost who can be … anybody who uses the Mend e-mail account”.
But one official from the delta worries that, in the era of mass communication, an e-mail can be mightier than an AK-47.
“The people who went to see the president, together they were a major fighting force,” the official says. “But [Okah] and his e-mail address are more than all of them put together in terms of his impact on the world.”
Speaking to the Financial Times from prison, Mr Okah denies involvement in the Abuja attacks and says his alleged arms dealing is unproved. He avoids questions about Jomo, but says the delta’s cause “has not been resolved”.
When he was arrested in Angola on gunrunning charges in 2007 and deported to Nigeria, the Jomo e-mails kept coming, calling for his release.
“Okah keeps the propaganda operation close – it’s relatives and business associates,” the official says.
Nursing a kidney ailment, Mr Okah has resided in Johannesburg since he was freed under the amnesty. In a sign of the threat he is believed to pose, Mr Jonathan sent emissaries for talks with Mr Okah soon after taking power.
Some suggest Mr Okah’s agenda is reviving a market for weapons. “Okah entered the scene as the person who was providing arms,” says Kuromiema Miabiye, president of the Ijaw Youth Council representing the delta’s main ethnic group. “He was never involved in the struggle.”
In an e-mail to the FT, Jomo, who declines to disclose how many authors he has, maintains that he alone is the authentic voice of Mend, pouring scorn on the ex-commanders.
“It is from this account that all the major and minor activities of the group from inception is heard,” he writes.
One delta watcher says Mr Okah, and by extension Jomo, “represents only a small faction” but adds: “Once someone gets the microphone, it’s very difficult to shut it up.”