THE apexpan-Ijaw social cultural organization, the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) say they will hold the Federal Government responsible should any harm befall the detained leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, (MEND), Henry Okah.
President of the INC Prof. Kimse Okoko told newsmen at the 2008 Ijaw National Day in Yenagoa that if Okah truly committed the offence that he was arrested for, he should be arraigned before the court of law.
Prof. Okoko called for due process in the trial of the detained leader of MEND, adding that �when he was first arrested in Angola, our position is that he should be arraigned before a competent court of law and that law should be allowed to take its course.�
The INC leader noted �while the campaign for his trial was going on, the Federal Government in connivance with the Angolan government moved him into the country and was being interrogated in Abuja.
�We learnt that during the interrogation, he was shot, but the security agents denied the report, while another report had it that it was accidental discharge.�
He, however, warned that that should anything happen to the detained leader of MEND both the Federal Government and its respective agencies would be held responsible.
Also speaking, the National Secretary of the Ijaw Youths Council, Comrade Udengs Eradiri, warned that should anything befall Okah in either army or police custody, there would be total breakdown of law and order not only in the Niger Delta region but the entire country.
�Okah is one of the foremost Ijaw leaders and we know his contribution to the emancipation of Ijaw people and intrigues surrounding his arrest and detention both in Angola and Nigeria.
�We heard about how he was tortured and shot by the soldiers and even though they are denying it, they should allow the youths in the region unfettered access to him,� the IYC scribe said.