South African authorities have arrested an ex-leader of a militant group that claimed responsibility for a dual car bombing that killed 12 people in Nigeria, a Nigerian secret police spokeswoman said Saturday.

The arrest of Henry Okah, a former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, came as Nigeria's secretive State Security Service acknowledged it received a warning about the impending attack long before the bombs exploded Friday.

Nonetheless, the militant group was still able to detonate the explosives only a 10-minute walk away from a ceremony in Nigeria's capital Abuja attended by the president and other dignitaries in the oil-rich nation.

"Unfortunately, there's no way security can be 100 percent foolproof," State Security Service spokeswoman Marilyn Ogar told The Associated Press. "We are happy all the same that the event went on smoothly and it wasn't interrupted."

Ogar said a "foreign partner" provided her agency with information of an impending attack on the 50th anniversary celebrations. That information apparently involved Okah, a former militant leader who left Nigeria for Johannesburg after being released from prison in July 2009 while facing treason and gun running charges.

A day before the bombings, security agencies in South Africa raided Okah's home and seized a laptop, though they did not arrest him, the militant group previously said.

t was unclear Saturday night if Okah faced any charges in South Africa. South Africa police spokeswoman Tumi Shai said police would have no comment on the matter for now, and referred queries to the Nigerian government. Saul Molobi, a spokesman for the foreign affairs ministry, also refused comment.

Ogar declined to elaborate on what evidence her agency had, saying officers continued to investigate the bombings.


Source: Associated Press

I just want the authority to be sure if he's really one of the militants, den they can deal with d MODERFU*CKER ND MORONIC human.