By SaharaReporters, New York
Two days after Nigerian security officials discovered a substantial cache of weapons in a depot owned by a Lebanese businessman in Kano, other Lebanese in the town have expressed outrage and pledged to collaborate with Nigerian authorities to identify and arrest any bad elements in their community.
Two days ago, officials of the Joint Task Force had disclosed the discovery of heavy weapons in Kano and the arrest of some Lebanese suspects.
Reacting to the reports, members of the Lebanese community as well as Lebanon’s Consul General declared as false and malicious a report in a Nigerian newspaper that the chairman of the Lebanese community, Tahir Faddalah, was arrested by the JTF.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Faddalah, who owns Tahir Guest Palace,said Lebanese had been known for decades in Nigeria “as peace loving people who are never involved in any kind of crime.”
Mr. Faddalah noted that Lebanese had been living in Nigeria for upward of a century, conducting lawful businesses in a manner mutually beneficial, adding that his people had never been associated with any crimes. He said Lebanese “will never accept, assist or associate with any criminal activities by any group or individual.”
The chairman of the Lebanese community expressed preparedness to cooperate with Nigeria’s security and law enforcement agencies in their efforts to counter any acts of terrorism.
He said the community had full confidence in the capacity of Nigeria’s security agents to uncover all the culprits behind the discovered weapons.
The Lebanese acting consul in Kano, Khalil Musliman, sought to absolve any Lebanese of involvement in the weapons find. He presented a copy of the passport of one of the arrested persons. The document, issued by the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs, gave a business permit number of MIA/B 24332/T/403, with the name of business listed as Amfat Nigeria Limited. The owner of the business bore the name of Abdu Hassan Taheer of Sierra Leone.
The acting consul dismissed a report in a Nigerian daily that it was Mr. Faddalah who was arrested. He described the report as a calculated attempt to tarnish Mr. Faddalah’s image, adding that the businessman was contemplating a lawsuit to retrieve his name.