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How Nigeria And South Africa Traded Dead Bodies For Seized Money by Onyi42(m): 8:42am On Dec 06, 2014 |
while Nigerians wait for closure on the $15 million arms money seized by South African prosecutors, authorities in the two countries appear to have agreed on an unholy barter to exchange bodies of South Africans who died in the Synagogue Church collapse in Nigeria, for South African- made arms needed by Nigeria to fight Boko Haram, The Mail and Guardian, one of South Africa’s most respected newspapers, has reported. South Africa confiscated the money from arms brokers who travelled there to procure arms for the Nigerian military. Mail and Guardian said it saw two letters written by Jeff Radebe, the South African special envoy in charge of facilitating the repatriation of the bodies, to JP “Torie” Pretorius, of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations, also known as the Hawks, and Dumisani Dladla, head of South African National Conventional Arms Control Committee, NCACC, secretariat, seeking to assist the Nigerian government to get the weapons, despite two court orders freezing the money and continued probe into the dubious deals by investigators. On November 16, with the supervision of Mr. Radebe, 74 bodies were repatriated to South Africa following the September collapse of the Synagogue Church in Lagos, Nigeria. Majority of the dead were South Africans who visited the church hoping to receive miracles from the founder, T. B. Joshua. Many in South Africa hailed Mr. Radebe as a hero for being able to secure the release of the bodies. But the news that he might have entered into a sinister swap agreement with Nigerian officials to accelerate the return of the bodies has cast a pall over that heroic persona. The South African government has dismissed the Mail and Guardian’s account as an attempt to “discredit the collaborative efforts of the South African and Nigerian governments to repatriate the bodies of South Africans that died in Nigeria”. But the paper, in a follow-up report, said it stood by its findings, as they were backed by documents and confirmations from government officials. “It includes correspondence from Minister Radebe to the Hawks and internal emails from senior government officials,” Mail and Guardian editor, Angela Quintal, said. “The email trail clearly shows that these officials were discussing the minister’s request that the investigation be halted and that they were concerned about this.” In the letters Mail and Guardian quoted, Mr. Radebe, who is also the Chairman of NCACC and a minister in the South African presidency, tried hard to whitewash the deals as legitimate. “(It) was, in fact, a legitimate requirement from the government of Nigeria,” he was quoted to have written. “Although the required administrative processes were not adhered to at the time, the government of South Africa deems it a bona fide error.” He told Mr. Dladla to “laise” with Mr. Pretorius to “obtain all relevant information in order to assist the parties involved to apply for the necessary authorisations in compliance with the National Conventional Arms Control Amendment Act (no 73 of 2008);” adding that “Upon receipt of the required permit applications, the national conventional arms control committee will favourably consider ex-post facto approval thereof.” Though Mr. Radebe claimed that the attempt to help Nigeria clean up the arms deal was collectively agreed at an NCACC meeting, other members of the committee are distancing themselves from the agreement. Also, while he claimed, through his spokesperson, that the committee agreed to help Nigeria legitimise the deals at its October 30 meeting, the letter seen by Mail and Guardian was dated October 6, three weeks before the meeting was held, the newspaper said. Mr. Radebe also said that the repatriation of the bodies lay under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Lagos State government and “had no relation to the arms matter.” He said he drafted the letters to Hawks and the directorate for conventional arms control “after consultation with the Federal Republic of Nigeria”. Mail and Guardian quoted a cabinet minister, who is also a member of the arms committee, as saying that Mr. Radebe singlehandedly wrote the letter without consulting other committee members. He said Mr. Radebe merely sought their approval after the letter had been delivered. “Jeff cut this deal all by himself. He wanted to claim credit for cracking this matter [securing the return of bodies,” said the government official. “His colleagues who serve on the arms committee are distancing themselves from the whole thing. They are refusing to back him on this one. If we allow Nigeria to get away with this, it means any country can come and do the same.” Mr. Radebe appeared to be completely isolated on the matter as prosecutors said they are not relenting in their effort at getting to the bottom of the matter. Paul Ramaloko, a captain with the Hawks said his organisation is forging ahead with its investigation and that he knew nothing about the attempt of Mr. Radebe to withdraw the charges. Mail and Guardian said Mr. Radebe’s letters are being discussed within the country’s diplomatic circles with officials wondering what to do with it. An email the newspaper claimed it saw read: “What concerns the NCAI [National Arms Control Inspectorate] about this case is that there are no documents … end-user certificate, or otherwise … from the Nigerian government that they had ordered the arms and ammunition. Thus far, there is no proof that has been provided that the Nigerian government ordered these goods or is in any way involved in this deal.” The officials who wrote the email added that, having bought arms from South Africa before, “the responsible officials in that country understand the administrative and legal process that South Africa requires”. Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, could not be reached for comments. His spokesperson, Adebisi Adekunle, could not also be contacted as calls to his telephone were unsuccessful. A spokesperson to President Goodluck Jonathan, Reuben Abati, did not also respond to calls to his phones. |
Re: How Nigeria And South Africa Traded Dead Bodies For Seized Money by ukukaegbu(m): 9:21am On Dec 06, 2014 |
Wharrever. Whether the arms deal was legitimate or not, the S.A. government should just #BringBackOurMoney# |
Re: How Nigeria And South Africa Traded Dead Bodies For Seized Money by HumbledbYGrace(f): 9:23am On Dec 06, 2014 |
Source? |
Re: How Nigeria And South Africa Traded Dead Bodies For Seized Money by Onyi42(m): 9:49am On Dec 06, 2014 |
HumbledbYGrace: sahara reporters |
Re: How Nigeria And South Africa Traded Dead Bodies For Seized Money by datguru: 9:59am On Dec 06, 2014 |
Tufia, lies from the pit of hell |
Re: How Nigeria And South Africa Traded Dead Bodies For Seized Money by HumbledbYGrace(f): 5:41pm On Dec 06, 2014 |
Onyi42:link |
Re: How Nigeria And South Africa Traded Dead Bodies For Seized Money by Centrifude(m): 7:15pm On Dec 06, 2014 |
We still have your money |
Re: How Nigeria And South Africa Traded Dead Bodies For Seized Money by Centrifude(m): 1:50am On Dec 07, 2014 |
South Africa still holding Nigeria’s seized $15 million arms money. Contrary to widespread reports in the Nigeria media (PREMIUM TIMES not included) the South African government has not returned the $15 million seized from arms dealers purportedly buying arms for the Nigerian military. PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report that the money remains frozen in South Africa and has not been returned to the Nigerian government. In October, several media articles quoting the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Lulu Mnguni, reported that the money seized in connection with two dubious arms deal had been released to the Nigerian government. However, Mr. Mnguni has told PREMIUM TIMES that the reports are false. Apart from the High Commissioner, the spokesperson of the South African National Prosecuting Authority, NPA, Nathi Mncube, and a South African source that is knowledgeable about the matter but requested not to be named, told PREMIUM TIMES in separate correspondences that the money was yet to be released to the Nigeria government. Rather than return the money, there is possibility that the money may never be returned to the Nigerian government again. Responding to PREMIUM TIMES enquiry about the extent of the investigation into the seized arms money, Mr. Mncube, who declined to give specific information because the NPA does not respond to matters under investigation, however, said the money may be forfeited to the South African government. “In terms of our law, proceeds of crime are forfeited to the state,” he said. On his part, Mr. Mnguni vehemently denied the reports credited to him that the matter has been resolved diplomatically and the money returned to the Nigerian government. He said it was not procedural for the South African government to return frozen money in the manner suggested in the reports quoting him. “We don’t refund money that way,” he said during a telephone conversation. “I said the matter would be resolved within the legal and legitimate means. That was what I said. I did not say the money has been refunded. And I did not follow up since then on whether the money has been refunded or not. It has to be done through the legal and legitimate means.” PREMIUM TIMES investigation also revealed that instead of providing document that validated its claim that the deals were legal, the Nigerian government has been vigorously pursuing a diplomatic resolution of the matter. Hard as it is trying, it appears the Nigerian government is merely chasing the wind, as the matter is no longer in the hands of diplomats and politicians. Unfazed by subtle threat of the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, to come hard of South African business interests such as MTN and DSTV in Nigeria, NPA obtained court orders freezing the money. Now, Nigeria has to go through the full hog of court processes to secure its release – something the government, which claimed ownership of the money, appears incapable of doing following the backdoor manner the deals were reached. “The money was frozen by two court orders and the court requires the documentations before the money is released,” Mr. Mncube said. “The money is still here and is not going anywhere. We would not release it if we don’t have a surety where the money is going. It is a court process.” http://nigeriana.org/blog/105206.html |
Re: How Nigeria And South Africa Traded Dead Bodies For Seized Money by HumbledbYGrace(f): 2:40am On Dec 07, 2014 |
Centrifude:And y o nkirela difahleho |
Re: How Nigeria And South Africa Traded Dead Bodies For Seized Money by Centrifude(m): 6:08am On Dec 07, 2014 |
HumbledbYGrace:Nje... |
Re: How Nigeria And South Africa Traded Dead Bodies For Seized Money by HumbledbYGrace(f): 2:47pm On Dec 07, 2014 |
Centrifude:all is well |
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