A South African court on Monday convicted Nigerian national Henry Okah of 13 terrorism charges, including bombings that killed 12 people in Abuja on independence day 2010.
“I have come to the conclusion that the state proved beyond reasonable doubt the guilt of the accused,” said Judge Neels Claassen, handing down the verdict in the South Gauteng High Court.
The final pronouncement has been fixed for January 31 or February 1 and Mr. Okah risks being sentenced to life imprisonment. He however has room for mitigation.
Okah was found guilty of masterminding attacks including twin car bombings that killed 12 people in Abuja on October 1, 2010 and two explosions in March 2010 in the southern Nigerian city of Warri, a major hub of the oil-rich Delta region.
A group fighting for a greater share of the Delta oil wealth, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Okah denied the 13 charges related to acts of terrorism and said the charges were politically motivated.
He also denied leading MEND, but had said he sympathized with their goals.
Evidences gathered by the prosecution include alleged phone communication between Mr. Okah and those who carried out the attacks, allegedly on his orders, computer records, photographs purporting to show incriminating images and other materials.
Also, the South African court found out that Okah was the leader of the movement after uncovering a document, revealing his wife’s handwritten notes.
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