MILITANT LEADER DOKUBO ASARI EXPOSES OKAH AS A

C O N F I D E N T I A L LAGOS 000712 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM NI SUBJECT: MILITANT LEADER DOKUBO ASARI EXPOSES OKAH AS A CRIMINAL Classified By: Acting Consul General Vicki Hutchinson for reasons 1.4 ( B) and (D) ¶1. (C) In mid-October militant leader Dokubo Asari circulated a letter exposing Henry Okah's arms trafficking activities and connections in a self-proclaimed effort to separate criminality from the Niger Delta struggle. (Note: According to security sources, this letter was intended only for Ijaw eyes, but it is now available on the internet. End Note.) In the letter, Asari discusses Okah's 2003 role as an arms dealer to Ijaw militants and his 2005 move to join the Ijaw struggle as a militant leader. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) was created as a "name and a platform" for issuing unified statements by all militant groups, including those of Tom Polo, Henry Okah, Fara Dagogo, and Cynthia Whyte, Asari writes. ¶2. (C) According to Asari's letter, Okah choreographed the raid on an Agip bank in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, which resulted in the death of policemen and Okrika locals. This attack created a division between Cynthia Whyte, who Asari describes as "one of our most trusted female Commanders" and Okah (aka Jomo Gbomo). Despite this, Okah continued to gain power and by 2006 had developed liaisons with the Rivers State government so powerful that he was purportedly paid naira 100 million (USD 800,000) a month to "pacify the boys." Asari closes his 11 page letter by explaining his anger with Okah for "compromising the Ijaw struggle" by introducing criminality and accumulating huge financial gains. Asari said the letter is the first of a two-part narrative. ¶3. (C) Comment: It remains to be seen whether Asari's public exposure of individuals engaged in criminal acts will result in a backlash. Okah's "boys" are believed to be fragmented in the absence of their leader. End Comment. HUTCHINSON