The leader of Nigeria’s main militant group, held for treason, on Thursday asked a court to drop the 62-count charge arguing it was not competent to try him, a source close to the case said.
Henry Okah’s case is being heard in the federal High Court in Jos, the capital of central Plateau state.
His lawyers argued that the country’s laws stipulate that a case be tried by a court sitting in the area where the offence was committed.
The crimes Okah stands accused of were allegedly committed in Bayelsa state in the oil-rich southern Niger Delta, some 800 kilometres (500 miles) away.
The defence said some 150 witnesses Okah plans to call were in Bayelsa, so were the 100 bags of documents to be presented as evidence.
The leader of the Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a well-equipped group which claims to be fighting for a greater share of the oil revenue for the local population in southern Nigeria, was arrested in 2007 for treason and gun-running.
His lawyers also argued during Thursday’s hearing in camera that security conditions in Jos, a city rocked by sectarian violence last year, were not conducive to a safe trial for Okah.
Judge Mohammed Liman adjourned the matter to May 8.
MEND emerged in 2006 in the volatile Niger Delta region and has targeted the oil industry.
Its activities and those of its allies have since seen a drop in crude production in the world’s eighth largest producer to around 1.78 million barrels a day, compared with 2.6 million in 2006.