Ex-militant leader arrested in Nigeria bombings that killed 12

Associated Press

LAGOS, Nigeria

South African authorities have arrested an ex-leader of a militant group that claimed responsibility for a dual car bombing that killed 12 people in Nigeria, a Nigerian secret police spokeswoman said Saturday.

The arrest of Henry Okah, a former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, came as Nigeria’s secretive State Security Service acknowledged it received a warning about the impending attack long before the bombs exploded Friday.

Nonetheless, the militant group still was able to detonate the explosives only a 10-minute walk away from a ceremony in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, attended by the president and other dignitaries in the oil-rich nation.

Marilyn Ogar, a State Security Service spokeswoman, said a “foreign partner” provided her agency with information of an impending attack on the 50th anniversary celebrations. That information apparently involved Okah, a former militant leader who left Nigeria for Johannesburg after being released from prison in July 2009 while facing treason and gun-running charges.

A day before the bombings, security agencies in South Africa raided Okah’s home and seized a laptop, though they did not arrest him, the militant group previously said.

It was unclear Saturday night if Okah faced any charges in South Africa. South Africa police spokeswoman Tumi Shai said police would have no comment on the matter for now.