Nigerian oil delta rebels say leader shot dead

LAGOS (Reuters) – A Nigerian rebel group from the oil producing Niger Delta said on Tuesday its leader, Henry Okah, was shot dead in detention in northern Nigeria.

There was no immediate official confirmation.

If confirmed, news of Okah’s death could spark a new round of violence in the delta, home of Africa’s biggest oil industry which produces 2.1 million barrels per day. It could also derail tentative peace talks between rebels and the government.


“Disturbing reports just reaching us suggest that Henry Okah succumbed to injuries from gunshot wounds at about 0400 hours today … at a military hospital in Kaduna state … after he was shot in what those interrogating him claim was an ‘accidental discharge’,” Okah’s group said in an email.

“The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is giving the federal government … the next 24 hours to confirm or deny this murder rumour,” the group said, threatening violence in the Niger Delta.

Reuters