INDEPENDENCE BOMBING, OKAH LIED ON HIS "BLAME NORTHERNERS" STORY?'

What a cheap get-even desperate ploy to create a treacherous rift between President Jonathan and the northern opposition; and thereby make a messy situation messier; and then in between the ensuing melee, find a way to get out of his asphyxiating legal choke-hold. It would have been very brilliant plot, the stuff excellent crime novels are made of, except that nobody seriously speaking, not even a dullard, buys into this crap of 'implicate the northerners' story as told by the Niger Delta terrorist in exile independence celebration bomber Henry Okah. This guy deserves no mercy and should be hanged!

Icheoku wonders earnestly what type of infighting people that populate the Niger Delta that they should beef with one another in this manner as to desire to incriminate the president of Nigeria? What hatred does this Niger Delta Henry Okah has in himself that will make him want to bring the government of another Niger Delta man, President Jonathan down with such a grave allegation capable of shaking Nigeria to its foundation? Why does Henry Okah want to set up one of his own and president of Nigeria Jonathan, against the North and in this cut-throat manner. Is it possible that some Niger Deltans, including this hellish Okah, are still smarting and internally protesting President Jonathan's mercurial rise to power and his present occupation of a Niger Delta throne which was not rightfully his by their warped calculations; being not part of the militancy which cuts through the length and breath of the entire watery region? Is it possible too that those financiers of the militancy movement are not happy with Jonathan and petty jealousy is fueling this their resentment that they are prepared to go to any length to sabotage his government.

Is Okah now a readily willing tool in these peoples hand or do they have a joker they want to pull at the Nigerian people, already traumatized by the unfolding drama that was a bomb on their country's independence day celebration, facilitating these barrage of accusations and counter-accusations? Does Okah have any smoking gun or is this all he got and was merely bluffing that the president's aide approached him to conspire against the northern people? Why was Al-Jazeera Television allowed unlimited access to an accused person in detention for terrorism that claimed the lives of so many innocent Nigerians? Why was terror master-mind Henry Okah not handed over to the Americans so that they can find him a suitable accommodation at the infamous Guantanamo (prison) Terrorist vacation home in Cuba? So many questions needing answers present themselves if only Nigeria still have some investigative journalists ready to dig deep and fish out the real story instead of their present trade of pay-to-play garbage and reportorial. Is it also possible that these Niger Delta terrorists with their front man Henry Okah still have the sympathy of James Ibori, DSP Alamaseigha and Sylva to whom they owe their loyalty and are merely trying to telegraph President Jonathan a message that some people outside his Aso Rock still call the shot; and that somehow he is not fully in control or in charge of affairs in Nigeria especially in the Niger Delta.

Icheoku says balderdash to the claim by Henry Okah that "an aide of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan called and asked him to "blame the Northern politicians" for the Independence anniversary bombing in Abuja." Anybody with even a simplistic juvenile knowledge about the workings of security agencies knows that they do not operate in this reckless manner as alleged by terrorist Henry Okah. If a mole or an aide of the president is to approach a person on behalf of the state, there is usually subtle pre-move feelers sent out to know if the target will bite. It is usually done with discreet caution and never as blatant as Henry Okah is trying to sell to gullible Nigerians. Such prospecting is never as direct and plain as Henry Okah described and even using a telephone to communicate such is near impossible, except it is scrambled and secure line. The approach would have been somewhat like, "what do you think if this thing that happened in Abuja on Friday was shifted elsewhere?" Then subsequent discussion will be predicated on the response got and if unfavorable, it trails off into the cold annals of secret agent 007. The enthusiasm of the prospective contact always determine the next steps to be taken while eliciting such a high consequence assistance. Moreso, if the government had any such plans to scapegoat anybody or group, they would have tidied up every loose end prior to the bomb setting off but definitely not after the train has left the station and everybody is in a panic mode.

What terrorist Henry Okah is alleging is akin to the school of conspiracy o 9/11 which claims that the government of the United States permitted the wanton provocation that was September 11, 2001 to find reason to march into Iraq and take out Saddam Hussein; and you wonder what lunatic government would allow 3000 of its citizens to so painfully die just to set up an attack. Any security operative that walks that part as Henry Okah volunteered ought to be fired and does not deserve to work for the good of any state including Nigeria. Further it was very puerile for the president's spokesman Ima Niboro to challenge Okah to name the implicated aide as nothing stops Okah from just reeling out a name from among all the aides working for the president. The proper rebuttal and best approach would have been to obtain the transcript of the alleged telephone conversation and see who called who and what they discussed. But regrettably, many Nigerian officials are like Nasir el-Rufai said of Babangida, still in the yesteryear of technology and assume that Blackberry is a type of fruit? Icheoku asks, what is the rocket-science in verifying this conspiracy claim since Henry Okah mentioned a telephone call and not that he was approached by an aide physically and personally. Just order the damn transcript and lay waste this allegation or timidly watch as it gathers momentum and turns int a whirlwind!

Just see the fluidity of Okah's statement that "they wanted to blame the attacks on northerners 'who are trying to fight against him' (Jonathan) to come back as president in 2011 and if this was done, I was not going to have problems with the South African government." Icheoku says, any person with some common sense or who has some rudimentary knowledge of law of evidence will know that this is a very watery allegation of fictitious nature. Why would President Jonathan's aide go to the rudimentary detail of re-informing Henry Okah that 'the northerners are trying to fight against him (Jonathan) to come back as president" when it is a worldly available information and the Nigeria polity had since been seized of that fact and for several months now that Jonathan is running and the north want to stop him? It is simply TMI (too much information) and portrays Okah in a very bad light as a lying scumbag and someone who was purposely and overtly embellishing a concocted story. Secondary, since when did the fledgling Nigerian government started dictating to the South African judiciary as to promise Okah that he was not going to have problems with the South African government once he cooperated? What a life of fantastical non-plause, this terrorist Henry Okah lives in and he thinks he can hold the entire 150 million Nigerians hostage?

Icheoku hereby calls the Nigerian government to seek the extradition of this terrorist from South Africa pronto and seek the death penalty for him for this offence. This guy is wickedly very callous and now has the blood of about 36 innocent Nigerians on his dirty filthy hands; and to add insult to injury, he is making allegation about the office of the Nigerian president. If any one criminal deserves the death penalty in Nigeria, this cockroach is a sure candidate; but if only President Jonathan got the balls to do what is demanded of this hour and time in Nigeria. How did Henry Okah know what was going through Jonathan's mind when he (Jonathan) absolved MEND or is he equally privy to Jonathan's inner workings too or was he working in tandem with the fired Col Areh and could this be the reason why he was abruptly retired? How did this terrorist secure knowledge about what he is alleging and/or how well-founded was his information. When the president said the bombing was carried out by some terrorists outside the country sponsored by unpatriotic elements within the country, was he referring to Okah and co-terrorists; and if, how did they gain access into the country, suggesting that they had some local collaborators and conspirators within Nigeria. Therefore it was an unverified faulty premise that President Jonathan spoke upon when he absolved MEND while blaming the anniversary bombing on some fantasy outside terrorists.

Borrowing from the Northern Group, Icheoku reiterates that the bombing was a callous and barbaric act of cowardice perpetrated by terrorist Henry Okah and group that are steeped in the culture of terrorism and unbridled violence and it is about time they are completely wiped out, exterminated just like the pestilence they have now transformed themselves into. Icheoku had a recurring sympathy for the Niger Delta struggle until Jonathan was sworn in as president and unrepentantly, they continued their mayhem assault on Nigerians; and you ask yourself, what else do these people want again having won the most coveted trophy in Nigeria, the Nigeria's presidency! Icheoku also agrees that terrorist Henry Okah and group are petty common criminals masquerading as militants and that they should be executed if found guilty for their insurrection against the Nigerian State. Also imagine the stupidity of this MEND, claiming that they never intended their bomb to kill anybody; yet they threw a live grenade into a crowded theatre and expected no casualty? Insanity redefined is the best way to describe Henry Okah and his MEND non-remorse remorse. Icheoku also agrees that terrorist Henry Okah and group are a notoriously violent terrorist group that must be hunted down, apprehended and punished dearly for their dastardly act of causing so many deaths and mayhem of kidnappings for ransom, rape, torture, arson etc.

However Icheoku does not think that President Jonathan is a closet member of MEND but reiterates that his statement absolving MEND in the face of their warning and admission of complicity in the anniversary bombing suggested that the president has a predetermined course of travel and that he should have been more creative with his position statement. Icheoku hereby categorically dismisses Henry Okah's story as unfounded based on positions canvassed above; similar to the same manner we wrote off the Nigerian government supposed evidence of complicity of Raymond Dokpesi/Babangida as a mere cheap forgery. Icheoku however strongly believes that somewhere in the middle of all these dusty, combatant, explosive talking over each others head, lies the gist of what went down on October 1st 2010 at Abuja's eagle Square. Icheoku is emphatic that only the good old meticulous investigative work will eventually unravel what was hidden so far regarding the anniversary bombings. Until then, Icheoku calls on all Nigerians to please sheath their swords of recriminations and await the final findings of the agency tasked with solving the subject matter bombings. In the interim, Nigerians should refocus themselves to and prepare for the 2011 elections; and stop and desist from further heating up the polity. President Jonathan should address the nation and explain what happened, steps taken by his government to prevent future occurrence and give further assurance that things are now under his full control.