PRESS RELEASE

THE ARMS DEAL SCANDAL

Preamble

When the media waves throbbed with the breaking news of a Nigerian
Private jet seized in South Africa last week for smuggling the sum of
$9.3 million cash, into that country, we were not surprised especially
when the ownership of the private jet with US registration number
N808HD was eventually disclosed.
The jet which landed at Lanseria International Airport, Johannesburg,
on September 5, 2014 from Abuja with the huge amount stashed in three
suitcases had to be temporarily impounded while its monetary contents
were offloaded and seized by the country’s Customs officers for the
reason of illegality.
Suspicion
The Muslim Ummah of Southwest Nigeria (MUSWEN) had long suspected that
a controversial aircraft owned by a controversial cleric through a
controversial means could only be meant for a controversial mission
such as the one now generating a global controversy.
According to the details of the news about the arms deal, two
Nigerians and an Israeli who were caught for using the jet in question
to smuggle the huge amount of money were interrogated by South African
security officials and they confessed that the money was meant for the
purchase of weapons for Nigerian security agencies.
Sensing corruption (with which most Nigerian officials are globally
known) especially when the huge money was concealed in three plastic
boxes and not formally declared, the South African authorities decided
to seize it saying its volume as well as its smuggled manner
contravened the law of their country.

Reaction
And in a seemingly jittery reaction, aimed at wading off the
embarrassment from the illegal deal, the federal government of Nigeria
admitted the ownership of the money without giving reason for
bypassing the Nigerian security officials in awarding such a contract.
And subsequently, the President of the Christian Association of
Nigeria (CAN), reluctantly admitted the ownership of the controversial
jet after about two weeks of pressure and insinuations from the press.
Offering an official but untenable explanation on the dubious deal,
the Aviation Minister, Mr. Osita Chidoka, told Nigerians that the CAN
president had leased the jet to another party, thereby trying to
underplay the role of CAN President in the use to which his jet was
illegally put.
That attempt to exonerate the owner of the jet in such a shady
business which could not have been transacted without his knowledge
and consent obviously betrayed the Minister’s knowledge of the office
he occupies. At least we are aware of the existence of a Nigerian
aviation law that bans the leasing out of a private jet for a
commercial purpose. Was the Minister feigning ignorance of this law?
The episode which came up in form of a shocking dramatic conundrum has
since generated a fierce controversy as usual, either on the basis of
shameless ethnic affiliation or that of religious opium. Incidentally,
the main casualty in this case is the image of Nigeria which the
federal government has always claimed to be concerned about.
Questions
Now, many pertinent questions are begging for answers. Some of them
are as follows:
1. Who authorized the purchase of weapons for Nigerian security
agencies through unofficial people with non-involvement of those who
will utilize the weapons?
2. When did the Nigerian law banning the use of private jets for
commercial purposes change?
3. What is the relationship between clerical mission and government
contract particularly in such a sensitive sector?
4. If it is true that the federal government actually awarded the
contract to whoever was involved, what was the reason for wanting to
make payment of such purchase in cash?
5. And how can one reasonably distinguish between that illegal deal
and what is generally called ‘gun running’ in military parlance?
6. Isn’t there a linkage between that deal and the clandestine
sponsorship of Boko Haram insurgency by certain religious leaders with
hidden agenda? MUSWEN had severally called the attention of the nation
about the role of some Christians in that devilish insurgency as in
the case of Bauchi and Osun State. But the government has curiously
pretended not to hear of it.

Comment
Meanwhile, the explanations made so far by some government officials
as well as ‘rental criers’ on the shameful and debasing deal in South
Africa have rather raised further questions without answers.
More embarrassing in this case is South Africa’s rejection of
Nigeria’s official explanation on the seeming shady deal which
culminated in the confiscation of Nigerian money by South African
government.
In a nutshell, this episode, combined with the recent revelations by
Dr. Stephen Davis of Australia, has not only exposed the hidden agenda
behind Boko Haram insurgency, it has also confirmed the grand
desperation of some mercantile clerics to wreck Nigeria by all means
in the name of religion.
MUSWEN therefore warns on the implications of sweeping this dangerous
scandal under the carpet and calls on the federal government to
exhibit transparency in this case by allowing an independent body to
probe the scandal and to come up with a punitive measure against any
culprit if only to prove that an official patronage is not being
surreptitiously granted to some criminal elements in the country who
are walking the streets in the cloak of religion.
As bona fide citizens and stake holders in Nigeria, we are neither
blind nor deaf to unfolding dangerous trend aggravating insecurity in
Nigeria as we have regularly pointed out and we believe that posterity
will bear witness to our undeniable concern. God save Nigeria!

Femi Abbas
Media Consultant

Rubbish. una won talk sey na Christians dey sponsor boko boys abi? ABEG TELL ME SOMETHING ELSE.

Muslims and their lies again.
Islam is the only world religion that terrorism is a principal aspect of their preaching.