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What Do You Know About The Umaru Dikko Sega? - Politics - Nairaland

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Customs Boss, Dikko, Gives Resignation Notice To President Buhari / See The Exact Crate Umaru Dikko Was Found In At Stansted Airport In 1984 / Umaru Dikko Is Dead - Prominent Northern Politician (2) (3) (4)

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What Do You Know About The Umaru Dikko Sega? by egift(m): 5:13pm On Jun 30, 2011
I have heard this story before and the Israeli connection, is there anyone in the house who is familiar with the story? Do share with us.
Re: What Do You Know About The Umaru Dikko Sega? by Nobody: 5:15pm On Jun 30, 2011
He druged and packaged but they did not get through customs
Re: What Do You Know About The Umaru Dikko Sega? by johnie: 5:28pm On Jun 30, 2011
Disappearing act

By Yossi Melman

For Elisha Cohen, his role in the attempted abduction of Nigerian transportation minister Dr. Umaru Dikko was the realization of his life's dream: To be an international conspirator involved in a secret international mission. A report on how the representative of a construction company made friends in high places - and why he was chosen for the mission.

When Elisha Cohen passed away in July, 2000, he took with him to his grave a huge secret that had agitated many in Israel and abroad. The secret related to an event that could well be the stuff of a great feature film, combining a military commando mission and a mafia-type operation.

The event in question was a failed attempt in July, 1984, to kidnap the former transportation minister of Nigeria, Dr. Umaru Dikko, in London, in broad daylight. Three Israelis and a Nigerian intelligence officer were arrested, tried and sentenced to long prison terms. Their stories were widely published in the world media. But the planner of the operation was never discovered and his motives never revealed.

A few days after the failed abduction attempt, the now-defunct daily newspaper Davar reported that behind it stood the government of Nigeria, which had enlisted the help of the American construction company called Johnson Drake and Piper. The company denied this. Based on a detailed investigation, it may be said now that indeed the company had no connection to the deed.

But Cohen, the president of the company and one of its owners, was "the brains" behind the attempted abduction and, in return, he received $3-$5 million from the Nigerian government. Some of the money went toward financing the trials of his operatives, including the three Israelis who were arrested in the case, to monthly support for their families and to the payment of hush money to others. But most of the money stayed in his pocket, though heirs, who are currently engaged in a legal battle over the probate of the estate, discovered later to their surprise that it had disappeared.

"Relative to my father's many business interests, expectations were great and there were those who expected that he would leave a lot of money in his estate. In this respect, there's a disappointment," says his son, Harel.

PR in Nigeria

Elisha Cohen was born in Tel Aviv in 1930. He enlisted in the Palmach and served in the Harel Brigade commanded by Yitzhak Rabin. He was lightly wounded in his eyes during the battles for the Jerusalem corridor, and hospitalized. There he met a nurse called Ziva, who took care of him. Some time later, the two were married and they had two sons, Harel and Lior. After the War of Independence, he worked for the Mekorot Water Company installing pumps and other equipment. At the beginning of the 1950s, he decided to study mechanical engineering in the United States and earned his living as a guard at the Israeli consulate in New York.

At some stage, Cohen's marriage got rocky, he divorced and married Susan, a young American woman. The couple had two children, Tamar and Michael. For a while, Cohen worked in America for a company that installed air conditioners, but he was not satisfied with his job. At the time, Susan was working as a secretary in the offices of Solcoor, which was owned by the Histadrut labor federation, in New York.

In 1963, Solel Boneh, also owned by the Histadrut, sent its representative, Mordechai Allison, who had completed a stint in Nigeria, to New York to open a branch there. In his search for a secretary, he heard about Susan Cohen and offered her the job.

The Solel Boneh offices also served the company's subsidiary, Reynolds, which it had purchased back in the 1950s for legal and business-related reasons. This enabled it to submit bids for U.S. government projects. Among other things, during that time, Solel Boneh won contracts to build military bases in the United States and Turkey. Reynolds and Solel Boneh were among the jewels in the crown of Hevrat Ha'Ovdim (the Workers' Company) - the body that united, coordinated and administered all the businesses, companies and industrial plants of the Histadrut's economic empire.

Through Susan, Allison met her husband, Elisha, and became friendly with him. Cohen asked to work at Reynolds but because of Histadrut regulations, which prohibited the employment of couples in the same office, this did not work out until after Susan resigned. Three years later, Allison returned to Israel and was appointed director of the external projects department of Solel Boneh. Cohen did not get along with Moshe Boaz, Allison's replacement, who wanted to fire him. With Allison's intervention, a compromise was achieved: Cohen was sent to Nigeria as the representative of Reynolds.

Reynolds submitted bids for Nigerian government contracts, with implementation of projects carried out by Solel Boneh, serving as the sub-contractor. During the 1960s, especially after Israel's victory in the Six-Day War, Israeli military and intelligence activity flourished in Africa. Nigeria, the wealthiest country on the continent, thanks to its oil and its large population, was considered a particularly desirable target for Israeli cooperation.

Cohen's main responsibility was in the area of public relations and international relations.

Ties with the top

From his office in Lagos, the capital, Cohen had to nurture ties with the upper echelons of the Nigerian administration and, through these ties, get contracts. Cohen, say those who knew him at the time, excelled at his job: Reynolds and Solel Boneh won, among others, three contracts for paving major roads in the country that totaled about $100 million.

Cohen was especially successful in establishing relations with military officers of all ranks, both senior and junior. However - as one of his acquaintances has explained - his special talent was for establishing relations with middle-ranking officers, especially majors and colonels - who, a decade later, attained senior positions in the government.

"Cohen knew how to impress," says someone who knew him during that period in Nigeria. "He gave his listeners - Israelis and especially Nigerians - the feeling that he was a mystery man. He let it be understood that he was connected to the Mossad and the Shin Bet intelligence services or maybe even represented them in Nigeria. Among other things, he related that he worked on behalf of the Mossad in North Africa. Most of the Israelis were not very impressed by his hints and most of us understood that this was just fake showing off. But on the Nigerian army officers this made a great impression. They believed him."

One of those officers with whom Cohen became friendly was Olusegun Obasenjo who, since May, 1999, has been serving as the elected president of Nigeria. Cohen met General Obasenjo during the 1960s as a civil war was raging in Nigeria over the succession of the province of Biafra, inhabited mostly by members of the Ibo tribe. The commander of the Nigerian army, which occupied Biafra, was Obasenjo who, at the time, commanded the army's Second Division. Cohen and other Solel Boneh employees were arrested then by the army, and General Obasenjo interrogated Cohen personally. In the interrogation, the accusation was that Solel Boneh had built installations, paved roads and provided equipment to the rebels in Biafra. Cohen replied: "We can also build for you."

This was the beginning of a friendship that lasted for several years and that benefited both Cohen and the company. In 1976, with the death of the popular General Murtala Muhammad, the military junta that had taken over the government of Nigeria appointed General Obasanjo as ruler of the country. He did not want to govern and after three years, handed over the government to civilians and helped re-establish a democratic regime. At a certain stage, he cut off his ties with Cohen after he heard that his Israeli friend was boasting of his influence on him.

In 1974, Cohen left Nigeria and returned to the offices of Reynolds and Solel Boneh in New York. But not for long. In 1976, Allison initiated a move in which he and Cohen quit Reynolds and Solel Boneh. They joined up with the Ashtrom company, which had been established in 1958 (by five people who had resigned from Solel Boneh in the wake of the firing of the CEO Hillel Dan), and together they purchased a company, which turned out to be the overseas branch of the American company of Johnson Drake and Piper (JDP). JDP had a fine reputation during World War II and built many bases for the American and British armies in America and elsewhere. Among other things, it built Tel Litvinsky, on which the Tel Hashomer hospital complex later went up. For tax reasons, the company was registered in the state of Delaware and it had a modest office in New York, which served as the "post-office box" for its dealings. It also opened an office in London.

The new partners directed their business to construction projects in Nigeria, but they found themselves facing stubborn rivals in the companies from which they had resigned: Solel Boneh and Reynolds. The struggle for every contract and project often led to reciprocal recriminations and threats. Cohen's connections with military officers and Nigerian intelligence people aided in the development of JDP.

Campaign against corruption

In 1983, after a four-year absence, the generals again ousted the elected civilian government in Nigeria. Heading the country was General Muhammadu Buhari. A number of government ministers, including transportation minister Dr. Umaru Dikko, fled the country. The press in Nigeria, influenced by the junta, was full of reports of the corruption of the ministers who had fled to safe villas they had prepared in advance abroad, along with secret bank accounts.

In the campaign against corruption, Dikko was depicted as enemy No. 1 of the Nigerian people. As transportation minister, responsible as well for the ports and shipping, he controlled most of the country's imports. This status, said his enemies, gave him access to many foreign businessmen and companies.

One of them was the Swiss-Jewish tycoon Nissim Gaon. Gaon, through Noga Commodities, was considered one of the major importers of goods into Nigeria. In addition to about 10 percent of the rice imported to Nigeria, his interests also included shipping, cement and construction materials and other goods.

According to members of the junta, Dikko exploited his public position to accrue private capital through bribes he got from various businessmen around the world. The bribery attributed to him was estimated at tens of millions - and perhaps even billions - of dollars.

Nigeria is considered one of the most corrupt countries in the world. The blight affects everyone: officials, ministers and both senior and junior military officers. Dr. Dikko was no different from the members of the junta who accused him, but the officers who had taken over the government needed a scapegoat to divert criticism from themselves, especially at home. They made him into an enemy of the people.

Even today it is not clear who in the junta first had the idea of kidnapping Dr. Dikko to bring him to a kind of show-trial in Nigeria. But whoever it was who had the idea also knew to whom to turn. In the eyes of the Nigerian plotters, the man for the job was Cohen, who was not only a businessman but also - or maybe only - an agent of the Israeli intelligence services or at least connected to them.

At the beginning of 1984, on one of his many quick trips to Lagos, Cohen accepted the proposal he received from a friend, a retired senior army officer. The Nigerians transferred to him between $3-$5 million, and put the national intelligence service at his disposal.

From that moment, the mission became the focus of Cohen's life. "For him, this was the fulfillment of all he dreamed of being and wasn't: an international conspirator and secret hush-hush missions," related an acquaintance of his.

Cohen set about planning the operation like a veteran intelligence man. First of all, he looked for a "field man," who would be directly responsible for the operation. He hired Alex Barak of Netanya. It is not clear how Cohen came to know about him, but he promised Barak considerable sums of money, apparently hundreds of thousands of dollars, and full coverage of all his expenses. Barak himself, today the owner of a cafe in Tel Aviv, refuses to tell how he was enlisted for the mission and is not even prepared to admit that he knew Cohen.

Born in 1957, Barak comes from a family of diamond merchants. He studied at the military boarding school at the Herzliya Gymnasium in Tel Aviv and the Sharett High School in Netanya. He did his military service in the army newspaper Bemahaneh, and as a photographer for the intelligence corps. Afterward, he tried to do business in Israel and abroad, but with little success; he had a run-in with the law in Germany and returned to the diamond business.

Cohen took care to put up a smokescreen so that the operation could not be attributed to him.

The plot thickens

All the participants were given code names. In return for a substantial sum of money, Barak enlisted Felix Masoud Abutbul, 31 at the time, whom he knew from Netanya and who is now known as one of the "crime lords of Netanya."

Through a connection, Barak also enlisted Dr. Arieh Lev Shapira, an anesthesiologist, who worked at Hasharon Hospital in Petah Tikva. Shapira was told that it would be his job to anesthetize the victim and that the operation was for "the good of the country." To this day the doctor, who has since gone on to direct a unit at Meir Hospital in Kfar Sava, continues to believe that he had been enlisted for the operation by the Mossad for an official mission and not for a private criminal act. Abutbul also tended to believe, at least at first, that he was working in Israel's interests.

After enlisting the mission force, Cohen and Barak, who met at least once to coordinate the operation in New York, began the second phase of their preparations: locating Dr. Dikko. When Barak described the affair to the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth in 1995, he confirmed that they had met in New York with a man called "Rafi," whom he defined as "close to the ruling circles in Nigeria."

Barak and Cohen also flew out to meetings in Nigeria with a retired senior military officer, their connection to the junta. There, Barak was given a Nigerian passport under the name "Kamal Shimon." To this end, he was helped by the Nigerian intelligence service, international business people, friends and private detectives.

The search for Dr. Dikko took several months. Initially, they thought he was hiding in Switzerland, but he was tracked down in the Bayswater section of London. From that moment on, Major Muhammad Yusufu, a Nigerian intelligence operative stationed at his country's embassy in London, became the liaison man between the junta and Barak. A New York detective agency hired detectives in London to gather operational intelligence, and they followed Dikko and studied his daily movements.

The plan developed by Barak and Cohen was to lure Dr. Dikko to a "television interview." To this end, an apartment was rented in London to serve as a "television studio." Barak set out on several missions in London and Paris, where he introduced himself as "Michel Peron," an American television producer. Abutbul and Dr. Shapira were also sent to London to become familiar with the territory.

Barak requested the aid of two "freelance journalists": a French Jew called Adrian Dramon and a Ghanaian called Camroun Daouda. He inveigled them into making contact with Dr. Dikko, to gain his confidence and convince him to come to the "studio," for an interview with "an American television network." In return, he promised them several thousand dollars, which according to Dramon were never handed over. At certain stage, Nissim Gaon, without knowing the real intention, was asked to help in luring Dikko. He was invited to be interviewed together with Dikko, but refused.

The beeper goes off

When it turned out that Dikko was not eager to be interviewed, Barak and Cohen decided on a new plan. The idea was to kidnap him and take him to the apartment in London, where Dr. Shapira was to give him an injection that would dull his senses. Then, they planned to board him in a wheelchair on a regular commercial flight from London to Lagos. Barak was supposed to be accompanying the imaginary patient. But, at the last minute, it turned at that under British law, a sick person could not be boarded on a plane without an authorization from a doctor from the British airports authority.

Barak and Yusufu had to change the plans. It was decided to abduct Dr. Dikko near his home, put him in a car and from there to transfer him to another car where Dr. Shapira would give him an injection to put him to sleep. The Israeli doctor was supposed to get into a special crate with him, prepared in advance by Major Yusufu and his people, which would be taken to Stanstead Airport near the city of Luton, north of London. According to the plan, Barak was supposed to get into a second crate, and at the airport, a cargo plane from the Nigerian airline would await them.

Barak, who could have left Britain some other way, chose to go to Nigeria hiding in a crate and be greeted there as a national hero in the hope that he would be suitably rewarded. Yusufu and his people were supposed to stamp the crates as "Diplomatic Mail," and Yusufu himself was to join the flight as a member of the flight crew.

On Thursday, July 5, 1984, at 12 noon, Dr. Dikko left his residence on Portchester Terrace in Bayswater. There, six kidnappers were waiting for him in two cars: Barak and Abutbul and four others, some of them Israelis whom Barak had enlisted and whose identities have not been discovered to this day. Even then Barak realized that the operation had not been prepared properly but he decided to carry on with it: Yusufu's driver forgot to bring along the Nigerian airline uniform, and the white van with the crates did not arrive on time at the meeting point near the Regents Park Zoo.

Within a few seconds, Dikko was abducted and trundled into a yellow Bedford van with the British Telecom logo on it (that had been obtained with the help of Major Yusufu). Abutbul and Barak tied the Nigerian minister up, gagged him and drove through Paddington to the meeting point in Regents Park. Along the way, they heard the beeper on the kidnapped man's belt go off. Over the device came the message: "Don't worry, we've informed the police and called for help."

In retrospect, it turned out that Dikko's secretary, who had followed him out of the house in order to hand him something she had forgotten, had discovered that her boss had been kidnapped. She hurriedly called the police and sent him the reassuring message. Barak, keen on carrying out the mission, decided nevertheless to continue.

In the article in Yedioth Ahronoth, he explained it like this: "They told us it would take at least two hours from the time we `picked up' the man until the mechanism that closed down the exit ports in Britain would go into operation. The timetable, which had been precisely calculated over and over again, showed that even if they called for help, we would still have enough time to get away."

Negligent partners

Despite the delays and the hitches, everyone met at the parking lot by the Regents Park Zoo. Dr. Shapira injected Dikko with the anesthetic and got into the crate provided with emergency medical equipment. Abutbul, who should have left the scene under the original plan, went to the airport with Barak. There, as planned, Major Yusufu was waiting for them, disguised in an Air Nigeria uniform. Barak and Abutbul were supposed to nail the crate housing Dikko and Shapira shut, and then climb into the second crate. Yusufu and his aide from the embassy stamped the crates with a wax seal, as a sign they had been identified as diplomatic cargo that could not be opened.

After a three-hour delay, "We feel a crane lifting the crates," related Barak to Yedioth Ahronoth. "One after the other, they are taken out of the van and placed on the loading deck. I can feel the upward movement of the crate. They load us onto the plane. In the background there is the roar of the Boeing 707's jet engines. A smile crosses Abutbul's face and he makes a take-off gesture with his hand.

"At that moment, screams and cries are heard outside. I identify the raised voices of an argument between Yusufu and someone, apparently a customs official, who orders the stevedores to stop the loading and bring the crates back to the hangar immediately. Within the fraction of a second, I realize: We've had it , I make the Israeli version what we call `giving a finger,' and this says it all."

The British customs authorities ignored the diplomatic immunity of the crates, opened them and found the four men inside them. Dr. Dikko was released and the three Israelis - Barak, Abutbul and Dr. Shapira - were arrested. Later Major Yusufu was also arrested.

Two days before the kidnapping, Cohen had flown from New York to Lagos to see at close range the happy ending of what was supposed to have been the mission of his life. A short time after the BBC broadcasted the news of the failed attempt to abduct the former Nigerian minister, some of his friends knew that Cohen had been responsible for it. One of them phoned him at the office in Lagos. Cohen poured his wrath on his partners from the Nigerian security services who had been negligent.

In the story in Yedioth, Barak had similar things to say: "In retrospect, I found out that the main culprit had been Group Captain Banfa, formerly head of the Nigerian Air Force and now CEO of Air Nigeria. This guy was supposed, according to the plan, to meet at 9:00 A.M. with Yusufu and Dr. Shapira at the apartment in London and give them the right documents and join us, to supervise the loading of the diplomatic crates at Stanstead Airport. But at the last minute Banfa got cold feet."

A Pandora's box

Months later, Cohen began to suspect that the reason for the failure had not been negligence. One of the possibilities that arose was that someone in the embassy in London, perhaps someone who had been close to Dr. Dikko or belonged to his tribe, had intentionally caused the delays in order to thwart the operation.

According to another version, the same elements in the ruling junta who had initiated the approach to Cohen were the same as those who scotched it by leaking information about the abduction to the British authorities, and everything that happened at Stanstead Airport had been a "staged show." That is, the people of the junta in fact did not want Dr. Dikko to be brought to their country to stand trial. They were afraid that such a trial might be a Pandora's box that would expose their own corruption.

The British government could have got their hands on the initiators of the operation: the military junta and Elisha Cohen. Investigators of the Anti-terrorist Squad of the London Metropolitan Police headed by Commander Hacklesby quickly discovered - from information that emerged from their interrogation of the British detectives that had been hired to follow Dr. Dikko - that Cohen was involved in the affair and that he had been sent by the junta. But the British Ministry of Defense ordered a stop to the investigation; Margaret Thatcher's government feared that problems with Britain's relations with Nigeria would disrupt commerce between the two countries. Thus Cohen was saved from British prison, although until his dying day, he stayed away from Britain for fear that he might be arrested.

Immediately after the failure of the operation, Cohen retained the services of Israeli lawyer Uri Slonim, who until then had handled some of his private business. Slonim flew to London and organized the legal defense of the three Israelis. He hired the best British lawyers for them, but to no avail.

Alex Barak, who had taken all the blame upon himself, was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment. Eight-and-a half years later he was released. Felix Abutbul and Dr. Shapira were sentenced to 10 years, and served six. Major Yusufu was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Dr. Dikko studied law in England and returned a few years later to Nigeria, where he again acquired a respectable standing, this time in the legal system.

Slonim continued to take care of the three Israelis while they were in prison. He organized visits by their families several times a year, and saw to it that money was transferred to them. Dr Rivka Shapria, the anesthesiologist's wife, received over a period of a number of years a monthly stipend of $1,000. It is not known what sums of money were received by the families of Felix Abutbul and Alex Barak.

Cohen spoke little about the operation, but his pride could not withstand the temptation. From time to time, he dropped hints and let a handful of friends in on some details of the secret. During the last seven years of his life, he was gravely ill and divided his time between his home in a small New Jersey suburb, his apartment in Ramat Aviv Gimmel and his house in Caesaria. He also tried to create among his friends the impression that this had been an "official" operation and not a private adventure. When they disagreed with him, he would shrug his shoulders and say, "What do you know?"

Susan continued to believe even after his death, that her husband had been a special Israeli operative. "Is it true that he worked for the Mossad?" she asked his friends.

Elisha's widow, who now lives in the United States, refused to be interviewed for this article. This was also the case with their daughter, Tamar Lamdan, who lives in Tel Aviv.

According to Cohen's son, Harel: "I never spoke to my father about the subject because there were subjects we never discussed, even though I had heard talk that my father had been involved in the matter. I know that he denied this when he was asked."

Lawyer Slonim said: "My involvement in the affair of Dr. Dikko is a matter that concerns a client of mine and I do not discuss such things."

Dr. Shapira did not agree to comment on the affair and said that perhaps some day, he will tell what he knows about it, but this is not yet the appropriate time.

Alex Barak: "All those involved in this old story have embarked on new lives or have returned to their Maker, and I do not see any point in recycling the affair after it has been ground find in all the media."

It was not possible to get a response from Felix Abutbul.

Some of Cohen's acquaintances, among them Pinchas Ashuach, Nati Harel and Mordechai Allison, refused to comment on the affair.




Culled from Haaretz.com




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Re: What Do You Know About The Umaru Dikko Sega? by johnie: 5:39pm On Jun 30, 2011
1983 coup Why UK police probed me for 2 years -Umaru Dikko .

Sunday, 30 January 2011 02:37 Ben Atonko

Nigerians of the younger generation almost forgot that there once was a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria called Umaru Dikko. Why have you gone into obscurity?

In life, there are times you talk, there are times you listen. The young ones have been complaining that we don’t give them the chance. So, for sometime, we’ll decide to keep quiet and give them the chance to see how they handle things. But it looks as if they are more interested in money rather than governing the country properly.

I’ve not quit. I’ll never quit. I’ve politics in my line and that is where I choose to remain until death do us part.

The situation in this country is quite troubling and that’s why many can’t sleep. Are you comfortable now that you’ve stepped aside?

Mind you, I didn’t say I quit. I only take time to listen and watch how other people can shape the country.

Second, I’ve been away from Nigeria—I’ve been in the UK for quite some time. There was a time I was not feeling well so I had to go abroad. But we’re still on the ship. Now we’re back. If there is anything the country wants us to participate in, we’ll oblige.

What have you been doing to help protect the democracy you were fully part of?

I’ve been talking to people quietly—not necessarily to the press; those people who care to listen.

Once upon a time, a minister of the federal republic ran away when military officers struck and some efforts were made to extradite him. What really happened?

They made efforts to bring me back. They had no reason to wish to bring me back. I told them they could not succeed. I told them Nigerians wanted democracy so they felt I was insulting them. Any time they made any effort, they failed.

I said the presidency in this country was not for sale. Also, if you want to govern the people, you must understand. And that military rule is different from our own. Their own is shoot—shoot on sight. Our own is talk, convince. Try to convince your fellow countryman, let him understand what you are trying to do for him and let him willingly agree to go along with you.

What really happened when the military struck?

When they struck, I knew for sure that they would fail. Shagari’s administration was doing its best and everybody knew that. Today, if we’re doing a referendum on all the governments that Nigeria has had, Shagari’s government will be the best. So, I saw no reason why the military would want to come in. We, civilians, are not allowed to hold guns but our gun is our tongue and the tongue, I assure you, is more powerful than the gun.

What were those efforts they made to bring you back?

They said I was talking too much when I was in London. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) gave me the chance to talk and I was talking. I said the military will fail and that Nigerians would realise that the government the military removed was the government the people themselves chose.

If Shagari’s government was good, why would the soldiers intervene?

They found that they were not making enough money during Shagari’s administration and they wanted to be rich! Shagari’s government committed no wrong. People were happy and werereasonably alright.

You headed the transport sector. What linked you to the rice issue?

At that time, our opponents politically, to make people dislike our government, ensured that there was scarcity of rice. You know rice is one of the staple food in Nigeria. They organised and bought rice in the market so that there would be shortage in the country.

Agriculture was our main focus, so if there was shortage of food in the country, that meant we didn’t succeed. We wanted to bring rice into the country so it would be cheap. That time, American rice was sold for N30 per bag. So that defeated the programme of our opponents and other political parties. They wanted to hold unto something to blame us.

I was given the chance to head the [rice import] task force. Why was I chosen? I’m not a farmer. I was chosen because I was in charge in transport and I could allow ships to come into the ports, using my position as minister. I was in charge of the rail line. The trains could take the rice to every part of the country.

The same price in Lagos was the price in Sokoto or Maiduguri, N30 per bag. Today, they sell it for N8,000.

Why did this turn to be a point against you?

At that time, other political parties were opposing us. You can’t satisfy your competitors. But the people were happy—there was food, no hunger in the country.

Of all the military governments, which was the worst?

Hey! Kai! None of them was good. I can’t say which one was the worst or which was the best because military regime in any case is an aberration.

Muammar Ghadafi of Libya is a military ruler but his people seem to be comfortable with him.

That is different. Muamur Gadafi, if you go to his house, it is his own small private house until today. He doesn’t have a villa. Our own people came to make money.

Nigerians describe General Buhari as an honest person. The only former president without mansions like others.

How do you know?

That is the assumption.

We don’t work on assumption. You have to find out. Don’t vote somebody on assumption. You have to find out.

This country has been witnessing crises. The Niger Delta crisis, those of Jos and Maiduguri. Why is it so?

Some of these people who take to bad ways are forced to do so by circumstances. Not everybody wants to be a highway robber. People are without jobs—they are without earnings. They are looking for food. The government of the country has to look into why people are taking to bad habits. There are people who are naturally bad but there are people who are forced into them by circumstances—hunger, no food.

We’ve got land, almost limitless, empty land. Why can’t you farm? When I say farm, I don’t mean the one that you use the hoe. Government can bring tractors and employ people. If you open a large farm, a doctor can be employed, a nurse can be employed there and so on. Government is to blame for leaving people to be idle. They gravitate to robbery.

Is there anything wrong in government, for instance, setting up agricultural companies and putting investments there so people go there, operate the machines and you farm and you are paid salaries like you go to office? They are not doing that. We have open land, rain plenty, sunshine plenty yet we are sitting down.

With employment, there is no point going to steal. What is the point going to steal N10 and going to jail for 10 months—10 months for N10?

What was the late Umaru Musa Yar’adua to you?

He was my very good friend. Very obedient person. He was a very humble person only that he wasn’t well. And maybe, Obasanjo chose him, hoping that he would die early. Go and tell Obasanjo that I said so!

What has his death caused this democracy?

First of all, all along, everybody knew Yar’adua was ill. He wasn’t well. Obasanjo knew this very well. He chose somebody who was more likely to die. Anyway, everybody leaves the time God has destined. Yar’adua was a very humble person. I visited him twice in his office. Whenever we finish and I was leaving, he would come and open the door for me. I respect him for his humility. May his soul rest in peace.

Having known that his health was failing him, we expected that people like you would advise him to redo the election?

Good, the point is he was put there for a purpose. He was put there to die. It was because he was more likely to die that Obasanjo chose him. Umaru Yar’adua did not become ill after becoming president—he had the illness before becoming president.

What is the fate of the average northerner, now, from the way things are?

The position of northerners now is that they should go and register. Get a card for voting. If you have no card, you can’t vote. Every Nigerian of adult age should go and register and when the time comes, you go and vote. Then you have done your duty. Leave the rest to God.

The motto of Sardauna’s time in the north was Work and Worship. Work first and then worship because when you work you are tired, then come and worship.

It is said that the crises in the north are politically motivated.

It’s partly true and partly not. Those that are politically motivated are politically motivated but not all can be said to be politically motivated. Some are caused by necessity—hunger, poverty. Not all thieves are natural thieves. Some thieves are artificial, they are forced. If you’re hungry and you see food you will like to go and take.

It is not every part of the north that is in crisis, some. You talk of Plateau. When you talk of Plateau, why is Plateau in crisis? Because some people think that the land belongs to them, it doesn’t belong to other people. They are talking rubbish! They too came into Nigeria. The people who are causing crisis in Plateau themselves at some time migrated into Nigeria from other countries. If they are doubting, let them come to me and I will tell them where they migrated from.

What is your assessment of Jonathan’s programmes?

What are his programmes?

He talks of power, education, agriculture,

Alright. Of all those who have ruled this country, who has not talked about these things? If I were to rule this country, I will do two things. First, security. You can go to any part of this country without robbers stopping you. Second, I will make sure there is power, electricity. Even if I achieve only these two, I will be happy.

But they take so many things: 10-point programme, one million-point programme and achieve nothing. Thirteen-point agenda in how many years? One million-point agenda. I call it one million-point confusion. Let there be security, let there be power then the rest can follow. Do you know the amount of rain that falls? If we can harness it, it is enough for us to drink and do everything for the rest of the year. The rain is pure, you can drink. Why did God do that? Look at sunshine now. Are you paying God anything?

So tell Jonathan, if he can solve the problem of power—and when he says power, they want to give power to small villages. What about the big towns with industries? There is no power, you go and give it to a village because you want them to praise you. Security, security, security. Power, power, power then two-point agenda is enough. I will vote for the person with two-point agenda if he will achieve them.

You didn’t talk about the money lawmakers collect. When I was a minister in this country, I never put money in any bank because there was no point. I was given only N1,000 a month. A minister with all the name, N1,000. After sometime they took away N100 to donate to one of these countries that was in trouble. So I ways given N900. I said there is no point opening any bank account. Always put it in my pocket. So what are the assembly people talking about? It is the same country.

What is the political interest of Umaru Dikko?

I want our country organised. We don’t know where we are going. If we can’t organise one thing, we cannot organise anything, not even water we can drink. There are places without water. Our roads are infested with highway robbers. At night, I cannot go to Kaduna. Why? I will have to sleep here. And you will say Nigeria is big, great! If you are talking of greatness by size, one state in America is bigger than Nigeria.

We keep on blaming the military for most of these ills but civilians too,

The military, they don’t come to repair anything in the country. They come because they are broke.

Are civilians any better?

I don’t know. So what do we do? At the end of counting all the problems in this world, the man in the church said let us pray. But prayer alone cannot take us to heaven. Work and then worship. If you are simply worshipping, hunger will kill you.

Which of the political parties have you pitched tent with?

We formed some political party but we had no money. We were totally broke—United Democratic Party, UDP. The only difference in PDP and UDP is the U. We can’t move. Maybe we’ll form another party. Union of Journalists of Nigeria [laughter].

What is the secret? Umaru Dikko of today looks not much different.

Once you are honest to yourself that is the secret. I urge you to check all the banks in the world if Umaru Dikko has money—any, from Nigeria to the outside world, if you find I have money in there, I beg you, take it.

You keep your money in your house?

Look, no, I’m serious. I’ll allow you, check, if you find money anywhere here, take it. In the garage here, there are three cars. Only one is mine and it happens to be the oldest one, the last one there.

When I was in England, in exile, when I was asking for asylum, they sent three police, secret service to me who said, “the noise Nigeria is making that you took money, British government cannot give you asylum if the allegation in Nigeria is true. So if you agree, we will investigate worldwide. If we find that you have money like they are saying in Nigeria, then you cannot live in this country—you are going to leave. But if we find that you are clean, we will recommend that the British government should give you the chance to live here for life.” I said agree. In fact, I cracked a joke. I said if you go round and you find that I have some money somewhere, then you will help get it then I will pay you tax. They laughed and they investigated me worldwide for two-and-a-half years. They came back and said they were satisfied that all the stories about me were lies and therefore, they were recommending that the British government should give me chance to remain in England for life. Today, I go to England without visa.

That is why when Oputa was here, I went there, I challenged any Nigerian, let them come and tell me I stole money when I was in government. Nobody came. Oputa said ha!



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http://www.sunday.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5915:1983-coup-why-uk-police-probed-me-for-2-years-umaru-dikko&catid=1:sunday-people&Itemid=32
Re: What Do You Know About The Umaru Dikko Sega? by johnie: 5:46pm On Jun 30, 2011
HC Deb 06 July 1984 vol 63 cc609-17 609
§ 11 am

§ The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Leon Brittan) I will, with permission, Mr. Speaker, make a statement on the attempt yesterday to abduct Mr. Umaru Dikko.

The Metropolitan Police were informed yesterday at 12.40 pm of the suspected abduction of Mr. Umaru Dikko, a Nigerian living in this country who was formerly a member of the Government of Nigeria. The call to the police, by his personal assistant, Miss Elizabeth Hayes, said that at about 12.25 pm he had been taken away in a van after a struggle.

Because of the possibility that attempts might be made to remove him from this country, a special watch was mounted at ports. As a result suspicions were aroused by two large crates which arrived at about 4 pm at Stansted to be loaded on to a Nigerian Airways cargo aircraft. The crates were not diplomatic bags as defined by the Vienna convention. The crates were accordingly opened. I understand that members of the staff of the high commission were already at Stansted and a Mr. Edet was invited to inspect the crates. Two people were found in each crate. One crate contained Mr. Dikko, who was unconscious, and another man who was conscious and in possession of drugs and syringes. The other crate contained two men, both conscious. Mr. Dikko is now recovering satisfactorily under police guard in hospital and will be questioned as soon as he is well enough. A total of 17 people, including the remaining three found in the crates, were arrested by the police and are being questioned. None of those arrested has claimed diplomatic immunity.

My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary summoned the high commissioner for Nigeria to see him at 9 am this morning and told him that he took a most serious view of the incident. The hign commissioner undertook to convey to his Government a report of the meeting. He denied any high commission or Nigerian Government involvement in the incident. The Foreign Secretary said that he expected the fullest co-operation from the Nigerian high commissioner, including the waiver of diplomatic immunity if that were necessary for the purpose of ensuring justice.

§ Mr. Denis Howell (Birmingham, Small Heath) May I express appreciation to the Home Secretary for making an early statement to the House? I also express appreciation for the expeditious and efficient action by the police and customs officials at Stansted, who acted with commendable efficiency. The Home Secretary will understand that the British people will regard this incident as wholesale contempt for human life and for the laws of the land. This is the second time that it has happened. After our recent experiences of the Libyan siege we now apparently see it in respect of Nigerian politics. I hope and believe that the Home Secretary appreciates that it causes a sense of outrage. Most British people believe that diplomatic immunity should not lead to criminal immunity, and I should be grateful if the Home Secretary will assure the House that there will be no inhibitions upon the police investigation of the matter resulting from diplomatic considerations.

Although the House appreciates that the Nigerian Government—this is a delicate matter for the Foreign 610 Secretary —are are a friendly Commonwealth Government trying to deal with a corrupt state, nothing justifies activity such as the Home Secretary described to the House. Will he also comment on the reported hold-up of a British Caledonian aircraft in Nigeria? That is completely unacceptable to the Opposition. There seems to be no justification for it in international law and no reason why that action should have been taken. Can he assure us that the strongest protest is being made about the sequestering of the aircraft, and can he tell us when it is likely to be freed?

Although I appreciate what the Home Secretary said about the action of an official of the Nigerian high commission at Stansted, did the official agree to the opening of the crates and did he co-operate with police investigations in every way?

§ Mr. Brittan To deal first with the separate matter of the British Caledonian aircraft, at the meeting this morning with the Nigerian high commissioner my right hon. arid learned Friend the Foreign Secretary protested strongly about the unwarranted detention of the plane, the crew and passengers, and asked for its immediate release. The high commissioner claimed to have no knowledge of the event but said that he would pass the request to his Government. I can confirm that our high commissioner in Lagos is meeting the Nigerian Foreign. Minister this morning and, therefore, the strongest representations for the earliest possible release of the aircraft are being made.

I appreciate what the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Small Heath (Mr. Howell) rightly said about the prompt and effective action of police and customs officers in preventing the attempted kidnapping and possibly saving lives. The House will wish to commend their skill and promptness. I entirely endorse what the right hon. Gentleman said about his sense of outrage at this crime. We all share that sense of outrage to the full.

As to police investigations, I have said that none of those arrested has claimed diplomatic immunity. I also said that my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary told the Nigerian high commissioner that he expected the fullest co-operation from the high commissioner and his staff, including the waiver of diplomatic immunity if that should prove necessary. The right hon. Gentleman will understand that inquiries are still at an early stage.

The Nigerian diplomat who was present at Stansted was invited to inspect the crates. He was present after they were opened and did not impede the inspection of the crates and subsequent police activity.

§ Dr. David Owen (Plymouth, Devonport) I am sure that the whole House will endorse the tributes that have been paid to the police and customs officers for their efficiency in apprehending those involved in the case. As I suspect that all hon. Members hope that it will be shown that the Nigerian Government were not involved in this incident — we value the friendly relations with a Commonwealth country — does the Home Secretary agree that the Nigerians could best demonstrate their noninvolvement and their commitment to resolving this issue by immediately releasing the British Caledonian aircraft, acceding to his request to make available for police questioning any diplomats that might have been involved in the matter, and showing the complete co-operation that we would expect from a friendly Commonwealth country?

611 Does the Home Secretary further agree that we should be careful about making too crude a comparison with the Libyan incident? It is a very different matter, and Libya had very different relations with Britain. In dealing with this delicate matter, it is important for us to accept the views of the Nigerian Government and hope that they will fulfil their obligations to a fellow Commonwealth country.

§ Mr. Brittan I agree with the right hon. Gentleman about the good relations that have existed between Britain and Nigeria and the value that we attach to those relations. I also agree that relations would be immensely assisted by the immediate release of the British Caledonian aircraft. I agree also with the right hon. Gentleman that those relations would be further assisted by a ready co-operation with the police and those investigating this matter.

I make no comparisons of this incident with any other, except to say that it is obviously an extremely grave matter for an attempt such as this to take place. It must be investigated properly and we are entitled to expect the fullest co-operation of everybody, whether they have diplomatic connections or not, in that process of investigation. However, I shall not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.

§ Mr. Ivor Stanbrook (Orpington) My right hon. and learned Friend has confirmed that relations between this country and Nigeria are excellent, and that this incident should not be considered against the background of that at the Libyan embassy. Will he also confirm that the Nigerian high commissioner has promised the fullest cooperation in the investigation of this incident?

Will he also confirm that Mr. Dikko is wanted in Lagos on a charge of stealing public funds, and that it looks as though some misguided people have tried to take the law into their own hands?

§ Mr. Brittan I am not prepared to speculate as far as my hon. Friend. There is an arrangement under the Fugitive Offenders Act that applies to Nigeria. No request has been made to this Government for any legal proceedings whereby Mr. Dikko would be returned. Beyond that, it is impossible to go.

As to the extent of the co-operation of the high commissioner, when my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary said that he expected the fullest cooperation, including the waiver of diplomatic immunity if that were necessary, the high commissioner said that he would pass on that request to this Government. The meeting with my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary took place this morning. I cannot report a fuller response from the high commissioner than that.

§ Mr. Greville Janner (Leicester, West) Will the Home Secretary confirm that the crates concerned were marked "diplomatic property"? If that is correct, and as a crate may constitute a diplomatic bag, why has the Home Secretary said that these crates were outside the Vienna convention when he maintained that the diplomatic bags used in the Libyan incident were within the Vienna convention? Is not this part of diplomatic law in a disgraceful and gruesome mess? In those circumstances, will the right hon. and learned Gentleman undertake that the Government will carry out what they originally said they would do after the Libyan incident, and seek a change 612 in the Vienna convention, rather than give way, as Sir Antony Acland implied to the Select Committee on Home Affairs is now the Government's intention?

Will the Home Secretary undertake that this afternoon, when my Bill, the Diplomatic Immunity (Revision and Interpretation) Bill, comes up for Second Reading, it will not be blocked by the Government, anonymously or otherwise? It is an attempt to try to get some sense into this part of diplomatic law so that diplomatic bags can be surveyed and the expression "It's in the bag" will cease to have a new and thoroughly unacceptable dimension.

§ Mr. Brittan On the Vienna convention and matters relating to it, I have nothing to add to what has been said by both myself and my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary about our examination of the convention, which we said would take place, and of its operation, which is at least as important as the contents of the convention.

With regard to the hon. and learned Gentleman's specific question about why these crates were different from a normal diplomatic bag, the crates did not have the visible markings that a diplomatic bag normally has, and there was no courier such as normally accompanies a diplomatic bag, as required by article 27(5) of the Vienna convention, who normally carries documents explaining his official status, and the number of packages.

§ Mr. John Wheeler (Westminster, North) I hope that my right hon. and learned Friend will be aware that his statement this morning will be reassuring to many of the residents in the city of Westminster, where so many of these serious incidents involving foreign nationals have occurred. Nevertheless, there is great outrage and concern in my constituency, particularly in Bayswater, where this abduction incident originated. Many people are now frightened about the behaviour of foreign nationals. They very much hope that my right hon. and learned Friend will be able to give assurances that the police will enforce the law of the United Kingdom, and that if it is found that the Nigerian high commission was involved in this incident in any way the most exemplary action will be forthcoming.

§ Mr. Brittan On the latter point, I shall not prejudge the inquiries, but the Government have made it clear, in our response to the events relating to the Libyan siege, that we shall take a serious view of any breach of the Vienna convention. Let us not forget that any action such as that to which my hon. Friend refers would be a gross abuse of the convention. My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary has shown his willingness to take a serious view and serious action if such a breach were to be proved. I repeat that I am not prejudging the situation.

I should perhaps have said in answer to the hon. and learned Member for Leicester, West (Mr. Janner) that the high commission did not contend for a single moment that these crates were diplomatic bags in any sense. In answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Westminster, North (Mr. Wheeler), who has shown natural concern for his constituents, I endorse his expression of the importance of the police engaging vigorously in the protection of lives and property against threats such as those that my hon. Friend has identified.

§ Mr. Donald Stewart (Western Isles) Can the Home Secretary assure the House that, where diplomatic immunity is breached in such incidents, it will 613 automatically follow that the British Government will be released from any previous arrangements in taking care of that incident? Will he also ask his right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary to make it clear to the Nigerians, the Libyans, the Sikhs or anybody else that there is no place in the United Kingdom for them to fight out their vendettas on our streets?

§ Mr. Brittan The latter point is one that both I and my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary have repeatedly made, and I welcome the opportunity, in response to the right hon. Gentleman, to reaffirm it. I am not quite sure what the right hon. Gentleman means by a release from obligations. We are not discharged from the obligations of the treaty, but I can assure him, as has been said, that if there is a proved abuse or breach of the convention, the Government are in no sense powerless to act and have explained our willingness within the confines of the convention to take vigorous action on any missions that have been proved to be guilty of abuses.

§ Sir John Biggs-Davison (Epping Forest) Can my right hon. and learned Friend say that no one who appears to be concerned in this murderous outrage is listed as a member of the Nigerian high commission or any other Nigerian Government agency in this country? Following other supplementary questions, does not this incident probably lend extra urgency to reconsideration of the Vienna convention and the immunity enjoyed by a minority of the diplomatic corps for their sleazy offences and anti-social behaviour?

§ Mr. Brittan I agree that this incident highlights the widely expressed concern about the operation of the Vienna convention, and underlines the correct judgment of the Government in considering these matters. As to the specific exoneration for which my hon. Friend asked, that inevitably cannot be given in the current state of the inquiry.

§ Sir Bernard Braine (Castle Point) Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that, while the House will await with interest further information on this deplorable incident, it gives rise to a wider problem that remains unsolved? Parliament and the public are heartily sick and tired of the repeated commission of offences by people claiming diplomatic immunity, in some cases when involved in serious offences such as rape, assault, serious motor offences, the smuggling of arms and drugs, and now——

§ Mr. Speaker Order. The hon. Gentleman is going rather wide of the question.

§ Sir Bernard Braine I am asking whether consideration could be given to this wider problem. These incidents have been going on for a long time, and the latest incident merely underlines the necessity for a clear ruling on the subject, even if it means doing something about so-called diplomatic immunity for people who behave in a criminal fashion but cannot be brought before our courts.

§ Mr. Brittan The right response where grave action has taken place and there is diplomatic immunity is for the Government to take up the case very strongly with the high commission, or embassy concerned. My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary has outlined the steps that he would be prepared to take—quite grave ones—in the absence of full co-operation and, where appropriate, waiver of immunity in an individual case where a serious 614 crime had been committed. It is reasonable to expect within the operation of good diplomatic relations that where a bad apple exists in any embassy or high commission, any reputable head of mission should be the first to wish to deal with it and to hand any offender over to the normal processes of law.

§ Mr. Ivan Lawrence (Burton) Will my right hon. and learned Friend convey to the Nigerian high commission the surprise of some of us that, if the Nigerian high commission was in no way involved with this act, there were representatives of the high commission in attendance at the time that the crates were being loaded? Will my right hon. and learned Friend also convey to him the astonishment of some of us, if the denials of the high commission are true, that the Nigerian Government's first reaction should have been to seize a British Caledonian aeroplane—as if to have a bargaining counter should we take any action against their diplomatic representatives? Can my right hon. and learned Friend also confirm that, had the crates been appropriately and properly marked according to article 27(4) of the Vienna convention, they could never have been opened?

§ Mr. Brittan My hon. and learned Friend draws attention to the response in stopping the British Caledonian plane. I share his concern that a Government who have officially, through their high commission, denied any involvement with this should simultaneously engage in an act of that kind. It is extremely difficult to understand how the two go hand in hand. I hope very much that that will be put right promptly.

The other expressions of opinion by my hon. and learned Friend are matters which are proper for investigation. They are matters which my hon. and learned Friend does well to raise. I am sure that they will be considered in the course of the investigation.

§ Mr. Jonathan Aitken (Thanet, South) Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that history shows that, almost every time a military Government seize power from a civilian one in Nigeria, there emerge in or near to that Government certain ruthless and barbarian elements who are apt to get quite out of control? Without wishing to prejudge the issue, is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that, until the various mysteries and doubts surrounding this incident and the episode of the British Caledonian airliner are cleared up, he should suggest to the Foreign Secretary that at the very least a severe chill should enter into our diplomatic relations with Nigeria?

§ Mr. Brittan As the House will see, my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary is sitting by my side and will have heard my hon. Friend's comments. There is no doubt that, until the British Caledonian plane is released, it will be very difficult for Her Majesty's Government to understand how a friendly Government can behave in the way that they have done.

§ Sir Anthony Grant (Cambridgeshire, South-West) While I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Thanet, South (Mr. Aitken) that the grounding of the British Caledonian jet was not the act of an innocent and friendly nation, may I ask my right hon. and learned Friend to remind Nigeria very forcibly that, unless the aircraft is released instantly, the position and landing rights of Air Nigeria will have to be considered?

615
§ Mr. Brittan I am sure that those responsible will have heard what my hon. Friend said. A failure to release the plane very promptly is bound to be treated as a serious matter in terms of its implications for air transport and more generally.

§ Mr. John Gorst (Hendon, North) Have the Nigerian Government, at any level or at any time, sought extradition proceedings in the case of this individual? Secondly, what is the status of Mr. Dikko in this country? Is he enjoying political asylum, or is he here on a visitor's passport?

§ Mr. Brittan I can give a clear answer to my hon. Friend's first question. At no stage have the Nigerian Government sought Mr. Dikko's extradition or its equivalent under the Fugitive Offenders Act. I do not think that Mr. Dikko has sought asylum, but I shall have to check up to discover his immigration position.

§ Mr. Peter Bottomley (Eltham) Will my right hon. and learned Friends make it plain to heads of mission in this country that our police have two jobs, the first being to protect diplomats and the second being, if necessary, to protect other people from those who may or may not be associated with high commissions or embassies? Will my right hon. and learned Friends also accept that we have had too many incidents of ambassadors, high commissions and their staffs being endangered here and too many incidents such as the Bulgarian one, the Middle East problems and the South Africans attacking their nationalist movements in this country and that we are not prepared to allow them to continue? We shall protect diplomats, and protect other people from diplomats, if necessary.

§ Mr. Brittan Diplomats are entitled to protection, and they get it. Equally, the people of this country are entitled to be protected against any abuse of diplomatic immunity or diplomatic privileges. The people of this country will not put up with outrages emanating from diplomatic sources. It was exactly for that reason that, after the Libyan incident, my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary and I made it clear that we were ready to take the strongest action against any mission proved to be responsible for any abuse of diplomatic privileges leading to criminal actions. That remains the position. But when and if a specific incident can be laid at the door of any mission, it is a matter of fact and investigation in each case.

§ Mr. Barry Porter (Wirral, South) Reverting to the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Epping Forest (Sir J. Biggs-Davison), I am still not clear about the status of the people presently under investigation. Is not the House entitled to know what connection, if any, there is between these people and the Nigerian high commission or, if they have no connection, what their status is in this country?

§ Mr. Brittan A total of 17 people are being questioned at the moment. They include the three people in the crates, plus a number of others who were around at the time at Stansted. It does not necessarily follow that those people currently being questioned are guilty of any offence. They are being questioned, and the questioning ought to be allowed to continue

§ Mr. Michael Howard (Folkestone and Hythe) Given the possible need to ask for a waiver of immunity, and given also the considerable difficulties which lie in the 616 way of renegotiating the Vienna convention, will not the Government undertake to look urgently at the possibility of renegotiating, on the basis of a mutual waiver of privilege in predefined circumstances, the terms on which we continue diplomatic relations with other countries?

§ Mr. Brittan My hon. and learned Friend's idea has considerable attractions, although the ability to predefine circumstances will not necessarily be easy to determine. I shall draw this suggestion to the attention of my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary who, in any event, has heard it.

§ Mr. John Powley (Norwich, South) Although the action of the Home Secretary in this affair is entirely commendable, what actions will he and the police take in future to ensure that this gentleman is not again abducted?

§ Mr. Brittan It is quite clear that the risk in which this gentleman is placed has now been underlined, and the police will no doubt take note of it.

§ Sir John Page (Harrow, West) Can my right hon. and learned Friend give the House any more information about the documentation accompanying these crates?

§ Mr. Brittan Yes. The crate was addressed to the Ministry of External Affairs, Lagos, from the Nigerian high commission, London, but it was not accompanied by an official document showing the status of the courier and the number of packages constituting the diplomatic bag, nor did it have the other markings of the diplomatic bag as such.

The House will recollect that when I answered questions on the Libyan affair a contrast was drawn between the diplomatic bag and personal baggage, and the different degree of protection accorded to both. It was clear that this was not a diplomatic bag, although it purported to emanate from the high commission. I deliberately used the somewhat legalistic and pompous word "purported" because, of course, it is the subject of investigation.

§ Mr. Denis Howell Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman throw a little more light on the phrase that he used in the statement that members of the staff of the high commission were already at Stansted when the crates were opened? Are those members of the high commission at Stansted subject to police investigation, and, if so, are they co-operating? That is important.

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman request his right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary to convey immediately to the Nigerian Government the fact that both sides of the House believe that it is completely unacceptable that the aircraft should be impounded and that that is completely inconsistent with the Nigerian high commission's claim that it is in no way involved in the affair? Will he also inform the Nigerian Government that we will judge them not least by the speed with which they release the aircraft and allow it to proceed on its lawful course? Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman keep the House informed of developments at Stansted and any other serious developments in the course of the investigation?

§ Mr. Brittan All the members of the high commission's staff at Stansted are being questioned by the police in the investigation of this matter. Of course the House must be kept informed of developments as they occur.

617 It is perfectly clear from what has been said from both sides of the House that there is a fund of goodwill towards Nigeria——

§ Mr. Frank Dobson (Holborn and St. Pancras) But not to the military Government.

§ Mr. Brittan —and a readiness not to jump to conclusions prematurely, unnecessarily or on the basis of inadequate information. But equally it will be clear that that fund of goodwill will be drawn on too heavily if the Nigerian Government fail to release the British Caledonian aircraft immediately.

§ Mr. Janner On a point of order, Mr. Speaker.

§ Mr. Speaker I am not sure that any point of order for me can arise on this.

§ Mr. Janner It arises directly out of this matter, Mr. Speaker. This is a matter in which two Departments of State are concerned. The Foreign Secretary has most properly come to the House to listen. Surely, where there are matters of the broadest interest regarding diplomatic immunity as such, and the British Caledonian aircraft in particular—where, for example, matters extend to how the Government could or would prevent bodies, live or dead, from being carried out in diplomatic bags — it should be for the Foreign Secretary to provide a statement and answers to the House.

§ Mr. Gorst Further to that point of order, Mr. Speaker. Is it within your power to invite the Foreign Secretary, if he so wished, to respond to the point of order made by the hon. and learned Member for Leicester, West (Mr. Janner)?

§ Mr. Speaker That is not a point of order for me. I am not responsible for which Secretary of State comes to the Dispatch Box to make a statement.


http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1984/jul/06/mr-umaru-dikko-abduction
Re: What Do You Know About The Umaru Dikko Sega? by otokx(m): 5:49pm On Jun 30, 2011
interesting reading.
Re: What Do You Know About The Umaru Dikko Sega? by egift(m): 7:26pm On Jun 30, 2011
Very informative guys. Our leaders are always here when their hands are still in the nation's cookie pot - but will waste no time to run to other countries when their evil comes to light.

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