Following the Nigerian Government's decision this week to charge the Niger Delta freedom fighter/rebel/arms dealer (take your pick) to court, my curiosity has led me to find out a bit more about him and his network might be wider than initial media reports have suggested.
My search has been made easy because news about him pops up everywhere you turn. They've ranged from the interview with his wife, Azuka which someone described as "saying very little yet painting enough of the objective picture". ( 'objective' in that quote is very subjective if you catch my drift). His brother has also been speaking. Even his children haven't escaped this PR blitz to let us all into his private world.
But all that didn't satisfy my curiosity, so the search went on. Global Guerillas even ran a revealing profile on him. But the Financial Times have today pointed in the direction of my suspicions by suggesting a link with Arms Dealer Extraordinaire Viktor Bout, who was arrested in Bangkok yesterday
"Most recently, he[Johan Peleman, an arms trade expert who works for the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo] added, law enforcement agencies had been investigating possible ties between companies associated with Mr Bout and militant groups in Nigeria, whose sophisticated weaponry has made it difficult for the federal government to re-establish control over the oil-producing Niger delta." (FT, 07/03/08, page 8)
If their claim is established, then Henry Okah might have to provide a more water tight alibi than what is presently making the media rounds.
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