Speaking in an account sent to SaharaReporters, Okah claimed that the authorities were attempting to manipulate legal proceedings to facilitate his removal from South Africa.
The imprisoned leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Henry Okah, has alleged that South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services used a fake person to stand in for him in court, and his application was subsequently dismissed.
Speaking in an account sent to SaharaReporters, Okah claimed that the authorities were attempting to manipulate legal proceedings to facilitate his removal from South Africa.
However, on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, he was not taken to court by the Correctional Services Department, under whose custody he is detained.
He said the matter was heard and decided in his absence, despite it being clearly stated in his application that he intended to represent himself.
He further alleged that South African authorities were attempting to smuggle him out of the country.
He explained that on the day of the hearing, he was locked in his cell from morning until noon, seemingly to prevent him from interfering with what he described as an illegal proceeding in the High Court.
Okah further alleged that the Correctional Services officials locked more than 300 inmates in their cells all day to sabotage his application and handpick a judge of their preference.
He said the matter was dismissed for alleged non-compliance with court rules.
He added that to make matters worse, Ms. Marema advised that the case be set down for hearing on Tuesday, March 8, 2025, as though deliberately targeting a judge preferred by the respondents.
According to Okah, “I don’t know if this is the last call you will ever get from me because I don’t know if it’s today or I don’t know when.
“I don’t know if you saw what happened yesterday with my case. I forwarded the draft of the email, which I am going to send to the Judge President.
“Reports say that yesterday, they put a fake person to stand in court as if it were me, and they dismissed the application. Now, they are trying to smuggle me out of South Africa. Please do that urgently. I don’t know if this is the last call you will ever get from me because I don’t know if it’s today or I don’t know when,” he added.
Okah, in a letter addressed to the Honourable Judge President of the North Gauteng High Court, Justice Dustin Mlambo.
The letter read, “I was the applicant in this matter and write to complain about the irregular dismissal of the application, and attempts to place the matter before a judge to the Respondents’ liking.
“My papers were filed on Wednesday 19 March and the matter set down for hearing on Tuesday 25 March. Ms Marema of the General Registrar’s office, assured that i would be requisitioned for a hearing.
“However, on Tuesday March 25, I was not taken to court by the Correctional Services Department in which custody i am detained, and astonishingly the matter was heard and decided in my absence whereas it is clearly indicated in my application that i was to represent myself. Who then acted on my behalf? Definitely an impostor,” Okah stated.
He said, “I was locked in my cell from morning until 12 noon on Tuesday 25, March 2025, obviously to prevent me from interfering with the illegality that transpired in the High Court. The Correctional Services officials locked more than 300 inmates in their cells all day just to sabotage my application and select a judge of their preferrence.
“The matter was dismissed for alleged non-compliance with the rules of the court, and to compound the situation, Ms Marema adviced that the matter be set down for hearing on Tuesday 8 , March 2025 as though targetting a particular judge preferred by the Respondents.
“Sir, this is an urgent matter that requires the urgent attention of a dispassionate judge of this honourable court and i respectfully solicit your urgent intervention to address an apparent attempt to pervert the cause of justice,” Okah said.
Henry Okah, 59, is widely regarded as the leader of MEND, an armed group that emerged in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta in 2005, protesting alleged decades of exploitation and environmental degradation by international oil companies operating under the Nigerian government.
In 2010, Okah was arrested in South Africa in connection with a car bomb attack in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, which killed 12 people and injured 17 others.
He was later convicted under South Africa’s anti-terrorism laws and sentenced to 24 years in prison.
SAHARA REPORTERS
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