An Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark has called on President Umaru Yar’Adua to reverse the government’s earlier decision and conduct the trial of Mr. Henry Okah openly. Okah is currently being tried secretly.
Clark said the only way the Federal Government could convince curious Nigerians and the international community that there was nothing to hide in the trial of the leader of the dreaded Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) was to conduct an open trial and allow local and foreign media to cover the said trial.
Addressing a press conference at his country home in Kiagbodo in Burutu Local Government area of Delta State, Clark wondered what the Federal Government was trying to hide from the citizens by insisting on conducting the trial in secret, whereas cases involving notable persons like Gen. Oladipo Diya, Major Gideon Okar, Major Al-Mustapha and ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo were conducted publicly and before the local and foreign media.
“On what ground is Henry Orkah being secretly tried? Is he more of a security risk than Major Al-Mustapha who was a powerful security officer to the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha? People are wondering why the clandestine and covert approach to his trial. Is there more to it than meets the eye?
“At this point, Nigerians want to know why Okah was arrested and detained for six months in Angola without trial only to face a series of charges at home, and no single one emanating from Angola.”
“The learned Justice Binta Murtala Nyako, granted the said order for the camera trial of Okah and Attatah for alleged security reasons and also approved the request of the Federal Government to bar journalists, both local and foreign, from covering the trial. “The Judiciary, as the custodian and protector of the Constitution, is the last hope of the common man. It should therefore not be seen as subverting the rights of citizens. We warned that nothing should be done by the Federal Government to give the impression that the Ijaws are a special specie in Nigeria, who must be treated differently from others.”
Clark, who is also a PDP chieftain and former Minister of Information, spoke on the 45-member Technical Committee report, as well as diverse issues affecting the Niger-Delta.
He expressed confidence that President Yar’Adua could summon the political will-power to adopt and implement the recommendations of the Technical Committee, including the 25% Derivation Fund, improved education system in the coastal areas and an open trial for Okah.
Chief Clark however, also disclosed that opinion leaders in the region would soon meet, especially regarding allocations in the 2009 Appropriation Bill as well as to discuss such vital areas as the Ministry of the Niger-Delta and the NDDC, as a number of them were already expressing reservations about the new ministry.