Nigeria: Militant Leader Sentenced in South Africa

The Nigerian government will use the incarceration of a militant leader as a pretense to containing militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, even if it has no true intention to do so. Henry Okah, the former leader of Nigerian militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, was sentenced to 24 years in prison by a South African court March 26. The court found him guilty of orchestrating two car bombings in the Nigerian capital of Abuja in 2010. With militancy in the Niger Delta on the rise, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan must convince oil investors to keep their money in Nigeria while retaining the services of Niger Delta militants — one of his most potent political tools.