On July 1, 2009, Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua offered amnesty to Henry Okah, a jailed militant leader who had been detained on treason charges for over 18 months. The announcement was made by then-Interior Minister Godwin Abbe, who stated that the President had directed him to approach Okah with the amnesty offer. “We are proceeding with the implementation of this directive,” Abbe confirmed.
Henry Okah, the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), had been arrested in 2007 for gun-running in Angola and was extradited to Nigeria to face treason charges. Within days, Okah accepted the government’s amnesty offer. President Yar’Adua then instructed the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, to facilitate Okah’s release. On July 13th, the federal government dropped the charges against Okah and freed him, making him the first top militant leader to benefit from the amnesty program.
President Yar’Adua, widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s best leaders, was known for his efforts to curb militancy in the Niger Delta region. His amnesty program aimed to end the destruction of oil facilities by militants and to restore peace in the region. Yar’Adua’s tenure, marked by significant initiatives, was cut short by his sudden death in 2010.
Other Key Events on This Day:
- In 1959, the Central Bank of Nigeria issued Nigerian currency banknotes and withdrew those issued by the West African Currency Board.
- Isabel Peron succeeded her husband Juan as President of Argentina in 1974.
- In 1997, Britain returned Hong Kong to China.
- The U.S. Post Office introduced zip codes in 1963.
- Canada was established as a self-governing state (Canada Day) in 1867.
- Thomas More went on trial in England on charges of treason for refusing to accept Henry VIII’s supremacy over the Pope in 1535.
- The first recorded U.S. kidnapping for ransom occurred in 1874 when 4-year-old Charles Ross was taken for $20,000.
- Charles Taze Russell published the first edition of the illustrated religious magazine “The Watchtower” in 1879.
- The “SOS” distress signal became the worldwide standard for help in 1908.