Nigeria on Wednesday accused South Africa of blocking a legal arms purchase and threatened retaliation against major South African companies, including telecom giant MTN, if the spat is not resolved. A top official in the office of Nigeria’s National Security Advisor (NSA) told AFP that the country had an agreement to buy $5.7 million (4.5 million euros) worth of military hardware in a deal brokered by a South African firm.

The official, who asked that his name be withheld, said Pretoria had frozen cash that had been wired to the South African firm’s account. South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority made no immediate comment, but the asset freeze has been widely reported in both Nigerian and South African media. “The issue could affect bilateral relations between Nigeria and South Africa,” the NSA official said. He specifically mentioned MTN — a South Africa-based mobile phone and Internet provider with tens of millions of subscribers in Nigeria — as a company that could be targeted in tit-for-tat reprisals.
“You cannot be making so much money from Nigeria and then turn around and embarrass the people,” the Nigerian official
said. He said Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan had called his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma to inform him about the
purchase and Abuja was therefore surprised to learn that the deal had been blocked. Zuma’s spokesman Mac Maharaj declined to comment on the reported conversation between the two leaders, but told AFP the president was not part of the committee that reviews arms deals. The NSA official did not identify the South African broker. The website of South Africa’s City Press named the firm as the Cape Town-based Cerberus Risk Solutions but that could not be independently verified. The development comes three weeks after South African customs officials seized $9.3 million in cash stashed in the luggage of two Nigerians and an Israeli. South Africa’s prosecution authority said there was evidence indicating those funds were intended to purchase armaments to be used in Nigeria.
The Nigerian security official declined to comment on whether the cash found in the plane last month was part of a weapons purchase, but insisted the $5.7 million deal frozen by South Africa was a legal arms transaction “through a bank”. Nigerian lawmakers last month approved a request from Jonathan for a loan of more than $1 billion to fight Boko Haram extremists. Analysts saw the president’s request as a tacit acknowledgement that the military is overmatched against the Islamists, who are thought to control more than two dozen towns and villages in the embattled northeast. Troops have refused to deploy for offensives against the insurgents, citing a lack of proper equipment. ‘Blocked’ from weapons market The NSA official said Nigeria would prefer to buy armaments directly from major Western manufacturers, but that multiple trades had been vetoed by the governments involved.
“Everywhere we go to purchase arms they block us… We approached the United States to buy helicopters but they
categorically said ‘no’. They said we have no pilots,” the NSA official said.
He said Nigeria would not need to go through middlemen if the United States agreed to sell to it directly. A State Department official, asked whether the US had rejected Nigerian attempts to buy weapons on the open market, told AFP that Washington reviews “all potential arms transfers for their consistency with US policy and interests.”

He declined however to comment on any specific cases. Nigeria is nominally considered a US ally and American oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron have a significant presence in the country, but relations between Abuja and Washington are thought to have frayed in recent months. The US offered military and logistical support in helping rescue the more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in April, but experts said the Americans were largely rebuffed by Nigeria’s top brass.


www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/nigeria-threatens-south-africa-frozen-weapons-deal/

infact i support this.MTN and DSTV should go back to their host country why we port to green simcard.they have taken enough and giving a peanut

This administration has degenerated to the point they are now robbing us and threatening those that catch them like armed robbers. Jonathan should should be very careful before he is moved from Aso Rock to ICC. Many of us still want he to reach Bayelsa first before heading to jail

the united states clearly has a hand in this ish

iterator24:
the united states clearly has a hand in this ish

Stop blaming others for the robbery of this administration.

eunisam:
infact i support this.MTN and DSTV should go back to their host country why we port to green simcard.they have taken enough and giving a peanut

It does not work that way. Do you know how many Nigerian Cabals that have stake in MTN and DSTV?

This is one fight Jonathan cannot win. It is an illegal money - Finder's Keeper

egift:

Stop blaming others for the robbery of this administration.



It does not work that way. Do you know how many Nigerian Cabals that have stake in MTN and DSTV?

This is one fight Jonathan cannot win. It is illegal money - Finder's Keeper

dude, i understand there's corruption in the system, but give the federal government a fair judgement for once... you can't always conclude all transactions as a 'robbery' what if this was otherwise? 'what if'

egift:
This administration has degenerated to the point they are now robbing us and threatening those that catch them like armed robbers. Jonathan should should be very careful before he is moved from Aso Rock to ICC. Many of us still want he to reach Bayelsa first before heading to jail

I know your only desire in your miserable life is to see Jonathan go to jail but I ask who among your group of desperadoes can do that. Jonathan has got to a level where you can only curse and insult him but can't bark at nor bite him. Instead of spending your whole life whining about Jonathan, I advise that you get a job to do.

Federal Gosverment cannot actualize the threat. When they have privatized everything to their incompetent selves and sold the remaining opportunities to foreigners

iterator24:
dude, i understand there's corruption in the system, but give the federal government a fair judgement for once... you can't always conclude all transactions as a 'robbery' what if this was otherwise? 'what if'

@Bold:
You are very much aware that there is massive Corruption in the System under Jonathan - Yet you are adding "BUT" - "IF" and "What IF"

Bros, I don dey fear you ooo!

APContherun:

I know your only desire in your miserable life is to see Jonathan go to jail but I ask who among your group of desperadoes can do that. Jonathan has got to a level where you can only curse and insult him but can't bark at nor bite him. Instead of spending your whole life whining about Jonathan, I advise that you get a job to do.

How many Trillions will he Steal before he can go to Prison? - Tell us.

Now whats funny?

egift:
This administration has degenerated to the point they are now robbing us and threatening those that catch them like armed robbers. Jonathan should should be very careful before he is moved from Aso Rock to ICC. Many of us still want he to reach Bayelsa first before heading to jail

Whether we like it or not, one day the truth would surely unfold...

There is no other way.


We will know who is truly the big brother of Africa.

Anyway, I see South Africa bowing to pressure. She has no choice.

Clowns behaving like motor park touts. Why did the NSA not explain why the Nigerian Government knowingly broke South African money laundering laws by attempting to smuggle $9.7 million into their country. So just because this batch of $5.7 million passed through the banks, it could not be illegally laundered money?

A sane government would use diplomatic and legal means to achieve its objectives instead of spewing threats all over the place. So the fact that South African mega companies operate in Nigeria now gives us the right to disregard their laws?

The $5.7 million transaction looked suspicious, especially occuring just after the botched $9.7 million smuggling fiasco, so the government obtained a court order from the South Gauteng High Court to seize the money. The most sane thing to do is for our attorney general to assemble a team of lawyers to South Africa to show the court that the money is legitimate, and then demand a public apology from the South African government once the money is declared legitimate.

I don't care what excuse the SA government is using as a bases to embarrass Nigeria. We are gonna get every single of our kobo back. And I suggest we start with MTN. MTN has more subscribers in Nigeria than the entire population of SA put together. The make more money in their Nigerian operation almost doubling that of their operations else where but the provide one of the poorest network services and not having the single courtesy of listing on Nigerian stock exchange. Simple suggestion, NCC should fine MTN approximate of 10 to 15 million dollars for poor services to their consumers and the amount shld be paid to the federation account simple. We get our money back through mtn and SA keep the one the have with them and everyone is happy.

lame execution which every good born Nigeria should disregarded there was no rational explanation in Jonathan action Jonathan is a thief I thought he still have mother I cannot just imagine on what kind of advice this woman she will give to his son honestly I was expecting mrs Jonathan to advice his son to abdicate

Nigeria shuld take action on time because if they keep quiet,they re on their own because
anything SA OR USA


is a suspect to us.


And again,
Nigeria shuld use the money being seize by the SA for the exchange of MTN AND DSTV company,
THEN employ all nigerians graduate and sent the SA back to their country where white pples hav taking over their places and,
as a result of white dominant,no employment grow rate 4 the blacks over there and yu re messin up wit nigeria after employing ur citizens and also sponsoring your forefather and foremother during the apartheid era.fools
dnt wory keep holding the nigerians money.we wil use it for the exchange of your companies here in nigeria no tyme neggar

No cheating, No justice
it s 1 1...

lame execution which every good born Nigeria should disregarded there was no rational explanation in Jonathan action Jonathan is a thief I thought he still have mother I cannot just imagine on what kind of advice this woman she will give to his son in all what has happened in the past honestly I was expecting mrs Jonathan to advice his son to abdicate surely Nigeria is passing through a big challenges may GOD save us from this predicarment and hardship

johnmartus:
lame execution which every good born Nigeria should disregarded there was no rational explanation in Jonathan action Jonathan is a thief I thought he still have mother I cannot just imagine on what kind of advice this woman she will give to his son honestly I was expecting mrs Jonathan to advice his son to abdicate

What's this one saying!?

I know America is behind the blockade we are experiencing in Arms purchase... because they feel our soldiers have been accused for violating human rights in the fight against boko haram so they have swore to block all means we can get arms on our own... Just to frustrate our efforts and bring us to our knees...1ce that is done, then they can come up with a whole bunch of dos and donts that we ought to comply with... Like legalizing GAY marriage in the name of "freedom". Well if we have evidence that the Presidency contacted South Africa about the arms deals, and I believe SA must have agreed for us to push the cash and commence deals...why are they now playing games with us? Well, we can as well pay back Nationalizing MTN,DSTV,Stanbic Bank, Shoprite and all SA's investments here. We did it to Brits. with Barclays Bank then(now Union Bank) so we can do it again. In international politics...every States wields equal powers based on what you can do with what you have...

iterator24:
dude, i understand there's corruption in the system, but give the federal government a fair judgement for once... you can't always conclude all transactions as a 'robbery' what if this was otherwise? 'what if'

What fair judgement?

Was Nigeria fair to SA when we deliberately broke their laws as a sovereign Nation while trying to buy arms from a non registered company with zero armpit to sell weapons?

The highest Nigerian official on that plane as revealed now was a militant from ND.

Who sends a foreigner and a militant terrorist to buy arms from a lawful and sovereign Nation?

Why is a common presidential adviser authorizing and buying weapons for the Nigerian military?

The money came from where and who authorized it?

What faction of the Nigerian armed services is the direct beneficiary?

And even after SA blocked the first attempt and seized our money, why head back to the same SA with more money to buy arms from another company with expired permits to sell arms?

They need to stop blaming the US because the us is not clueless, they know there is nothing legal and sane about this shady and under the table arms purchase?

GEJ is trying to arm somebody and that somebody is not the Nigerian military hence the shady dealings and militants buying weapons for Nigeria.

egift:
This administration has degenerated to the point they are now robbing us and threatening those that catch them like armed robbers. Jonathan should should be very careful before he is moved from Aso Rock to ICC. Many of us still want he to reach Bayelsa first before heading to jail

Wow. Without any investigation, you wanna put all the blame on the Nigerian government and exalt the South African government

iterator24:
He said Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan had called his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma to inform him about the purchase and Abuja was therefore surprised to learn that the deal had been blocked. Zuma’s spokesman Mac Maharaj declined to comment on the reported conversation between the two leaders, but told AFP the president was not part of the committee that reviews arms deals.

This part clearly shows that a bigger player is pulling the strings in order to ridicule the Nigerian government.

I'm not happy with the way things are done in this country, but if a whole GCFR of Nigeria actually made a call to his South African counterpart prior to the cash movement then screw SA! What the heck do they take us for?!

You blame them, Nigerians don carry laundered money buy house for South Africa tire, na vex

I believe did see a report where it said "Nigerians" were number 1 foreign property purchasers in SA.

Na tit for tat, Harrass MTN!

I don't understand all these empty threats; "JUST DO IT!"

Some people do not want Nigeria to get arms and thereby successfully crush Boko haram terrorists. They can't stand our government tackling our problems without external support and then take credits for everything. The Ebola case was too much for them so they've intensified efforts.

Consequently, why would our government go for a second deal in the same country that has already seized the cash for the previous deal... excess money? We need our own licensed indigenous company that can procure arms without problems.

Did Nigeria pay the $5.7 million before the South African "broker" firm's license expired in May 2014 or is this a recent payment.

I am assuming the payment was made before May2014 and post the recent seizure of the $9.3 million, the SA govt is trying to create a track record to prove money laundering and legally seize the funds.

Ole buruku dey this matter o!




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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWeGaB8aM9E[/flash]

@OP,why are you withholding the name of the official?why do you hide under the "tear tear umbrella" of PDP,to commit crime,u think South is a lawless country like your nigeria?

Eldavido1:
I don't care what excuse the SA government is using as a bases to embarrass Nigeria. We are gonna get every single of our kobo back. And I suggest we start with MTN. MTN has more subscribers in Nigeria than the entire population of SA put together. The make more money in their Nigerian operation almost doubling that of their operations else where but the provide one of the poorest network services and not having the single courtesy of listing on Nigerian stock exchange. Simple suggestion, NCC should fine MTN approximate of 10 to 15 million dollars for poor services to their consumers and the amount shld be paid to the federation account simple. We get our money back through mtn and SA keep the one the have with them and everyone is happy.

Wetin concern MTN with your fraudelent government,na MTN send them massage?why do we like beating about the bush,if you don't know the world is a frre market economy,if u do any "sme sme",them go do u back,tribalism an nepotism is killing nigeria;if your country has consolidated on BIAFRA weapon technology after the civil war,by now nigeria wd have bcome a major arm expoter,let them keep going to South ,shameless pple

this matter need Abacha to handle

Wat concerns MTN with our inefficiency Get this question and win 100 mtn VTU ...

mainheart:
this matter need Abacha to handle

An you will have to exhume his dead body

There's serious effort internationally to frustrate Nigeria in the fight against terrorism.
Whether they like it or not, Nigeria shall overcome her present challenge to become one of the greatest countries in the world. Our enemies will soon hide their faces in Shame in JN.

Some body Shout Hallelujah!