Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called "Nigerian Al-Qaeda Bomber,” set off enough alarms to wake up the international security structure around the world, but they all waved him through to Detroit, a new Saharareporters investigation has revealed. The first flag should have gone off when Umar bought his ticket in Accra, Ghana, on 16 September. Stepping off the street into the KLM offices, he offered no address and no telephone number. In effect, he was a ghost breezing in to buy a ticket to be routed Lagos-Amsterdam-Detroit-Accra. And no, not with a credit or debit card either, and certainly not by a cheque: the foreign national was paying the full price of the ticket—all $2,831 (USD)—in cold, hard, non-ghostly cash.

Sure, why not, said KLM: window or aisle?

The airline then did something even more curious: It did not inform the US authorities despite a standing regulation that all such cash transactions for flights into the country since 911 should be transmitted 30 days before departure. No KLM official reported seeing or doing business with a ghost.

Nigeria’s Minister for Information, Mrs. Dora Akunyili, has stated that Abdulmutallab “sneaked” into Nigeria on the 24th,, the same day he boarded the flight for Detroit via Amsterdam, but that tale is not backed by any concrete evidence. Our sources at the Murtala Muhammad Airport (MMA) in Lagos are categorical Umar did not arrive there on the 24th , neither had he transited from a “3rd country”.


The Lagos KLM office confirmed to us that Abdulmutallab did cancel the ticket he had bought in Ghana on the 16th, rerouting it to Lagos-Amsterdam-Detroit-Lagos. This debunks the initial report that Farouk had bought a one-way ticket to Detroit.

CCTV footage obtained from MMA by government investigators indicates Abdulmutallab personally checked in at 2035 hours (GMT) on Christmas eve, December 24th at the 2nd floor KLM check-in counter. He had no luggage, bearing only a shoulder bag.

Such travelers are not necessarily unusual, but Abdulmutallab was a cash-paying ghost whose own father had earlier confessed his fright and worry to the United States. Traveling with just the smallest of personal cabin bags should have pushed another alarm.

But KLM officials simply scanned Abdulmutalab’s passport and United States of America tourist visa, which was issued in the United Kingdom. They ran him through the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) and the United States certified he was clean to travel to the country. KLM checked the ghost—who would turn out to have hidden thunder and brimstone in his loins—through to Detroit. For the Amsterdam-Detroit stretch, martyr-to-be Abdulmutallab chose seat 19A, ominously next to the wing and above the aircraft’s fuel tank.


Aviation security sources at the first screening area recall Abdulmutallab as being somewhat nervous and sweaty while he was there; he had joined a VIP lane--perhaps instinctively because that is probably how he had traveled all his life--and had to be told to join the regular line. At this point, said one source, “he left the long queue leading to the immigration/SSS point and visited the former Virgin Atlantic office, returning with a newspaper before presenting himself for screening."

In the departure area, Abdulmutallab’s passport was scanned first by the State Security Service (SSS), which also processed him through the SSS datalist, a document often used by the Nigerian government to stop members of the opposition or people with views contrary to that of the government from entry or exit from Nigeria.


Passing that “test,” Abdulmutallab was then passed on to Nigerian Immigration authorities, which scanned his Nigerian Machine Readable Passport number A3921640. They processed him through the Passenger Registration System, which indicated he posed no security threat and was not listed on any “bar” list.

At the Aviation Security desk, sources and CCTV images indicate that after dropping his shoulder bag on the X-ray screening machine, Abdulmutallab set off the walk-through machine alarm. He was then sent back to remove his sneakers, following which he walked through successfully the second time. Then, in line with standard procedure, he was given a pat down and let go. Curiously, however, the Nigerian aviation officials did not include the setting-off of the alarm in the initial official report.

Also of interest is that sources indicate that an officer of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) briefly spoke to Abdulmutallab in a local language after he left the security screening post. This is common in Nigerian airports, arising from primordial sentiments, class status and in many cases, fragrant violation of security procedures as officials attempt to extort money from air travellers.


At the boarding gate, Abdulumutallab went through a secondary screening, conducted by KLM security, before being allowed into the aircraft en route Amsterdam. His name was included in the post departure manifest under serial number 2 and a secondary detail sent to Amsterdam and the American leg of what would become a historic terror trip.


An evil ghost was on the way, a ghost so dangerous his own father had deemed it fit to warn the United States. Within hours, Abdulumutallab would be in American airspace, the menace from hell ready to burst from his crotch and blow hundreds of innocent people into smoke and ashes.

When the news hit his own country, Nigeria was without a leader because the ‘president,’ who is well-tolerated by the US, has a different set of tubes between his legs in a Saudi hospital. Yar'Adua had been gone for 35 days without a return date in sight, and with nobody knowing his exact physical condition. Worse still, he had not transferred power to his deputy, who went ahead to authorize a high-level investigation that may well be illegal.

Written by Saharareporters, New York
Tuesday, 29 December 2009 22:43

How time flies