By Camillus Eboh

JOS, Nigeria, April 3 (Reuters) - A rebel leader from Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta was formally charged with treason and gun-running on Thursday in a first court appearance, court sources said.

Armed soldiers and police ringed the Federal High Court in the central city of Jos, where Henry Okah, a suspected leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), appeared. Journalists were not allowed in the courtroom.

Okah's defence lawyers were barred from making details of the hearing public but said they were lodging a formal objection against an order by judicial authorities for Okah's trial to be 0closed to the public and the press.

Court sources, who asked not to be named, said Okah's case was adjourned until April 22. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

MEND's 2006 campaign of bombings of oil pipelines and kidnappings of foreign oil workers forced the closure of a fifth of Nigerian crude output. The militant group has said it will closely watch the outcome of Okah's trial.

Okah was arrested in Angola last September and handed over to Nigeria on Feb. 14. His detention in a secret location has angered many militants in the delta, jeopardising government efforts to make peace with them.

Prosecutors last month revealed a barrage of charges against Okah, who was accused of gun-running and conspiring to wage war on the government.

"I've seen my client. He's well and fine," Okah's chief defence lawyer, Femi Falana told journalists outside the courtroom compound in Jos.

OIL, POVERTY, CORRUPTION

Before the closed hearing, he said the authorities' order to try Okah in secret was an infringement of his rights.

"Even every coup plotter in Nigeria was tried in the open ... This is a case of gun-running and it does not warrant this kind of trial," Falana said.

Okah still commands loyalty from several well-armed rebel factions in the creeks of the delta, and militant sources say they are waiting to see how his trial will be conducted before deciding whether to resume their armed struggle.

Disruptions to oil supplies from the Niger Delta are one of the factors that have pushed oil prices to record highs.

The problems in the delta are rooted in poverty and corruption. Five decades of oil extraction have polluted the air, land and water and enriched foreign oil companies and corrupt governments. But local communities have little to show from the oil wealth springing from their lands.

Groups like the MEND say they are fighting to redress injustice and secure greater local control of oil wealth.

The lines between political struggle and criminality are blurred. Abductions for ransom, crude oil smuggling, arms dealing, piracy and armed robberies are all lucrative activities for armed gangs in the lawless creeks. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/) (Writing by Pascal Fletcher; editing by Andrew Roche)

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