{{Nigerian militant Henry Okah who has been found guilty of 13 terrorism-related charges over twin car bombings during the country’s Independence Day in 2010 is to spend 24 years in jail.}}
The verdict was given Tuesday by a South African court.
At least 12 people were killed and 36 others injured during the bombings. Okah led a group, which said it was fighting to help Niger Delta residents gain a greater share of the oil wealth from their part of southern Nigeria.
The court established that Okah is the former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
He also received a 13-year jail term for threats made to the South African government after his arrest in October 2010 but this runs concurrently with his 24-year sentence.
The judge found that the state had proven Okah’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt because he didn’t testify in his own defence during the trial.
He had repeatedly denied any involvement in the bombings.
Prosecutors have argued that although Okah is not a South African citizen, the country had the jurisdiction to try him under the International Co-operation in Criminal Matters Act.
Analysts believe it would have been too dangerous for him to be tried in Nigeria because of the presence of his militant supporters.
The BBC says Okah may no longer be a headache for the Nigerian authorities but the threat of instability in the Niger Delta remains strong, despite a fall in the levels of violence since a 2009 amnesty.
Okah was arrested on gun-running charges in Angola in 2007 and then transferred to Nigeria but never convicted.
{NGuardian}
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