Henry Okah, leader of the Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) who is serving a 24-year prison sentence in South Africa for terrorism charges, attempted to escape from prison last month, prison officials have said.
According to spokesman for South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services, Manelisi Wolela, “Okah is one of the five inmates that attempted to escape and whose efforts were foiled”.
Wolela did not give further details of the plan and how it was foiled, but she said most of the offenders who tried to escape from Leeukop Prison in northern Johannesburg are serving life sentences for serious offences, such as murder, kidnapping and robbery.
The department also said that considering that there were 11 attempted jailbreaks in the 12 months preceding March 2013, security at the prison has now been tightened.
Okah was convicted for masterminding the 2010 Independence Day car bombings from which at least 12 people died, and for planning two explosions in Warri, Delta State in March 2010, among many others.
