The Police authorities on Thursday in Abuja said that the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Mr. Henry Okah, was being investigated for plotting to overthrow some governments in West Africa and theft of weapons, ammunition and magazines in armouries in Nigeria.
A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Agberebi Akpoebi, also accused Okah of aiming to destabilise Nigeria through his promotion of secessionist interests in the Niger Delta.
The police said that the MEND leader was also being quizzed for killing foreign oil workers, security personnel, and innocent persons in the oil-rich region.
The statement added that Okah was not only a known international gunrunner and an oil bunkerer but a kidnapper, a pirate and financier of militant activities.
The police also linked him with sabotaging vital installations in the Niger Delta, complicity in bank robberies, hiring of mercenaries, sourcing/purchasing of arms and ammunition and acquisition of surface to air missiles, with the intention to bring down aircraft in West Africa.
According to the statement, many serving military officers are currently being court-martialled as a result of the thefts at the armouries.
The police said that the Federal Government decided to respond to the reports on Tuesday that Okah had been killed in order to stop those behind the falsehood from causing a breach of the peace.
The statement read in part, �The police and the Federal Government would not have responded to such falsehood about his reported death, but for the fact that the intention of those behind the disinformation was mischief and deliberate undermining of public peace and order, a past time those behind the falsehood are known for.
�Those behind the current falsehood are warned that the Federal Government and its agencies are committed to the rule of law and any persons or groups that run foul of the laws of the land will not be spared.�
The police urged members of the public to disregard the report on the death of Okah and go about their businesses unhindered.
The Force said Okah was extradited from Angola where he was arrested while allegedly negotiating for the purchase of gunboats and ground-to-air missiles for use to allegedly destabilise Nigeria and other West African countries.
Meanwhile, the Joint Task Force on the Niger Delta on Thursday said it had not received any threat from MEND over Okah.
Its spokesman, Lt. Col. Musa Sagir, made this known in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
MEND, through its spokesperson, Cynthia Whyte, had threatened on Wednesday that unless the Federal Government showed evidence that Okah was alive, it would attack strategic locations in the oil-rich region.
Sagir said that since the task force was set up, it had never received any threat from any militant group, including MEND.
He said the government had initiated process towards the resolution of crisis in the region and urged law-abiding citizens in Rivers State to go about their businesses without fear.