HENRY Okah, one of the leaders of militant groups in the Niger Delta area, will appear in court today to be formally charged with treason, one of his lawyers said on Wednesday.
Okah is the suspected leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), whose 2006 campaign of pipeline bombings and kidnappings of foreign oil workers forced the closure of a fifth of Nigerian crude oil output.
Okah was arrested in Angola last September and handed over to Nigeria on February 14. He has yet to be seen in public and his detention in a secret location has angered many militants, jeopardising government efforts to make peace with them.
Okah still commands loyalty from several well-armed rebel factions in the creeks of the Delta area, and militant sources said they were waiting to see how his trial would be conducted before deciding whether to resume their armed struggle.
Prosecutors last month announced 14 charges against Okah, who was accused of gun-running and conspiring to wage war on the government. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
The MEND sent an e-mail to reporters on Wednesday, saying Okah and Edward Atatah, who was arrested at the same time as Okah and is facing similar charges, would be arraigned at a Federal High Court in Jos, Plateau State, today.
A member of Okah�s legal team, who did not wish to be named, confirmed the planned court appearance and said the proceedings would take place behind closed doors.
�We are going to file an application for the trial to be in open court, but for now, we have been told that it will be in camera,� the lawyer said.