Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Who Killed Adaka Boro : fresh fact to consider....whose fault
Hosiah Emmanuel
Isaac Jasper Boro was born to a Kaiama family in present day Bayelsa State of Nigeria, in 1938 and died in mysterious circumstances on May 16, 1968 while fighting to unite Nigeria. [1,2]
Boro was he who shortly after the Jan. 1966 coup declared the first Republic within Nigeria called the Niger Delta Republic that lasted for 12 days. It was an attempt to liberate the Niger Delta people from the socio-economic oppression by the then eastern regional government. He was a chemistry undergraduate and the president of the students' union of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, a police officer and at his death, a commissioned officer of the Nigerian Army. see [4 for more details about this aspect of his life as I concentrate on the subject matter of this piece).
It is no use to repeat that Isaac Boro who was jailed by the Maj. Gen. Aguiyi-Ironsi government on recommendation by the supreme court of Nigeria was pardoned by Lt. Col Yakubu Gowon's government and later commissioned by the Nigerian Army as an officer to help liberate southern territories under Biafran control. He recruited Rivers men who volunteered to serve under him and gave them brief training at Escravos. According to Obasanjo on page 47 of [1], Boro's one-thousand Rivers men were "hurriedly and poorly trained with little or nothing in the way of training facilities and resources". His group was then attached to the 3 Marine Commando Division (then 3 Marine) under the command of Col. Benjamin Adekunle. Adekunle's post-war political ambition was captured aptly by Obasanjo in his book "My Command" thus:
"Col. Adekunle, at this point saw the war not only in terms of crushing a rebellion, but also as a means of building himself up for any future political position or responsibility which he might wish to seek, I knew of people of Western State origin who had felt politically victimized and who saw in Col. Adekunle a saviour and told him so, and he believed them."
Is it possible that Adekunle planned the events that led to Boro's death as a scheme to take all the credits of the successes of the division at the time and permanently disconnect Boro's relationship with Federal headquarters?
Hear Obasanjo again:
"At the entrance to my office (Adekunle's former office) there was a warning signboard ' Enter at the pain of Death'... I removed the notice and flung it some fifty metres..."
If you are following the foregoing, you will notice that the 3 Marine was not making progress at the time Boro and his men joined them. This informed the "hurried" training. But the fortunes of the group was changed by Boro's men and again Obasanjo who showed some disdain towards Boro in the style of his writing about Boro in his book, probably because he did not want to give too much credit to a commissioned officer who did not receive formal military training in order to protect the millitary instutution, captured it this way (page 50 of [1]):
"Eket. Here, Isaac Boro and his Rivers men of 'Sea School Boys' had become a significant factor in the operations of the Division. Their knowledge of the riverine areas, their understanding of the local languages, their ability to live off the land and their SWIFT though tactically less accomplished (?) movement accounted for their HUGE success in areas around Opobo, Andoni, Obodo, Opolom, Oranga, Buguma, etc"
The "etc" in the above statement is Obasanjo's which I take to mean that the list of areas where Boro's men recorded HUGE SUCCESSES was endless. If you recollect that the then Col. Obasanjo was the head of a division at Ibadan at the time and eventually replaced Col. Adekunle as head of 3 Marine Commando, you will take his words seriously. The gravity of his words weighed heavily on me as I realized (by reading the book) that he was not a fan of Boro. Boro and his men were responsible for the huge success of the 3 Marine Commando for which Adekunle took the initial credits. The fortunes of the 3 Marine Commando dwindled after Boro's death which led to the replacement of Adekunle with Obasanjo. Hear again
Obasanjo: [2]
" The morale of the soldiers at least of 3 Marine Commando Division was at its lowest ebb. Desertion and absence from duty without leave was rife in the Division. The despondence and general lack of will to fight in the soldiers was glaringly manifest in the large number of cases of self-inflicted injuries thoughout the formation..."
The preceding captures the result of the absence of a winning unit after Boro's death. It is glaring that the division commander did a miscalculation of thinking he could hold it together without Boro.
Getting back to why I suspect that Boro might have been killed in a conspiracy organized by Col Benjamin Adekunle, the then commander of the 3 Marine Commando division, it is noteworthy that a good number of the men of Boro's Brigade had similar suspicion which made them uncontrollable after his death and subsequent dissolution by the powers that-be. Hear Obasanjo: [1]
"It was here in Okrika that Maj. Isaac Adaka Boro was killed, APPARENTLY (emphasis mine) by a fleeing rebel soldier whom he encountered during a private visit. His death led almost immediately to the dissolution of 19 Brigade which became uncontrollable without him"
I took proper notice of the word "apparently" used by a very senior officer who later became a military head of state before writing the book. In Obasanjo's mind therefore, the true circumstances leading to death is unknown.
Despite basing my theory on official record of a senior officer of Obasanjo's calibre, some informal account that give credence to this exist. In an article recorded on the web in [3], one Mr. Akpobulokemi B. Oborokumo has the following to say:
"My cousin Jones, a Regimental Sergeant Major during the Nigerian civil war told me over and over again that Major Boro did not die in the heat of battle with the Biafran forces. He said the area had already been captured and secured by his company and Major Boro was on an inspection tour when they came under fire. My cousin swore by the Ijaw gods that it was an ambush by one of Brigadier Adekunle's units under the scorpion's direct command."
There is enough reason for the government of Bayelsa and the legislators from Bayelsa to get the appropriate federal institition to do a fresh investigation to establish true situation that led to his death. All related documents captured in the course of investigation will become useful for further research by interested persons in future.
At the time of putting this together, my copy of Benjamin Adekunle's new book had not arrived and since Boro's death anniversary of May 16 is past, I thought it timely to give this opinion now and rekindle public interest on the need to do answer the question of "Who Killed Boro". I will update this after reading Adekunle's book.
Thank you.
Hosiah Emmanuel
Ref:
1. General O. Obasanjo. "My Command." Heinneman, Ibadan, 1980.
2. Mr. A. LTare-Otu.
http://www.unitedijawstates.com/boro.htm"
3. Mr. A. B. Oborokumo. "http://www.unitedijawstates.com/boro.htm"
4. Chief G. Fawehinmi. "The Murder of Dikibo. Another Lesson for Niger Delta". http://www.dawodu.com/fawehin1.htm
Isaac Jasper Boro was born to a Kaiama family in present day Bayelsa State of Nigeria, in 1938 and died in mysterious circumstances on May 16, 1968 while fighting to unite Nigeria. [1,2]
Boro was he who shortly after the Jan. 1966 coup declared the first Republic within Nigeria called the Niger Delta Republic that lasted for 12 days. It was an attempt to liberate the Niger Delta people from the socio-economic oppression by the then eastern regional government. He was a chemistry undergraduate and the president of the students' union of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, a police officer and at his death, a commissioned officer of the Nigerian Army. see [4 for more details about this aspect of his life as I concentrate on the subject matter of this piece).
It is no use to repeat that Isaac Boro who was jailed by the Maj. Gen. Aguiyi-Ironsi government on recommendation by the supreme court of Nigeria was pardoned by Lt. Col Yakubu Gowon's government and later commissioned by the Nigerian Army as an officer to help liberate southern territories under Biafran control. He recruited Rivers men who volunteered to serve under him and gave them brief training at Escravos. According to Obasanjo on page 47 of [1], Boro's one-thousand Rivers men were "hurriedly and poorly trained with little or nothing in the way of training facilities and resources". His group was then attached to the 3 Marine Commando Division (then 3 Marine) under the command of Col. Benjamin Adekunle. Adekunle's post-war political ambition was captured aptly by Obasanjo in his book "My Command" thus:
"Col. Adekunle, at this point saw the war not only in terms of crushing a rebellion, but also as a means of building himself up for any future political position or responsibility which he might wish to seek, I knew of people of Western State origin who had felt politically victimized and who saw in Col. Adekunle a saviour and told him so, and he believed them."
Is it possible that Adekunle planned the events that led to Boro's death as a scheme to take all the credits of the successes of the division at the time and permanently disconnect Boro's relationship with Federal headquarters?
Hear Obasanjo again:
"At the entrance to my office (Adekunle's former office) there was a warning signboard ' Enter at the pain of Death'... I removed the notice and flung it some fifty metres..."
If you are following the foregoing, you will notice that the 3 Marine was not making progress at the time Boro and his men joined them. This informed the "hurried" training. But the fortunes of the group was changed by Boro's men and again Obasanjo who showed some disdain towards Boro in the style of his writing about Boro in his book, probably because he did not want to give too much credit to a commissioned officer who did not receive formal military training in order to protect the millitary instutution, captured it this way (page 50 of [1]):
"Eket. Here, Isaac Boro and his Rivers men of 'Sea School Boys' had become a significant factor in the operations of the Division. Their knowledge of the riverine areas, their understanding of the local languages, their ability to live off the land and their SWIFT though tactically less accomplished (?) movement accounted for their HUGE success in areas around Opobo, Andoni, Obodo, Opolom, Oranga, Buguma, etc"
The "etc" in the above statement is Obasanjo's which I take to mean that the list of areas where Boro's men recorded HUGE SUCCESSES was endless. If you recollect that the then Col. Obasanjo was the head of a division at Ibadan at the time and eventually replaced Col. Adekunle as head of 3 Marine Commando, you will take his words seriously. The gravity of his words weighed heavily on me as I realized (by reading the book) that he was not a fan of Boro. Boro and his men were responsible for the huge success of the 3 Marine Commando for which Adekunle took the initial credits. The fortunes of the 3 Marine Commando dwindled after Boro's death which led to the replacement of Adekunle with Obasanjo. Hear again
Obasanjo: [2]
" The morale of the soldiers at least of 3 Marine Commando Division was at its lowest ebb. Desertion and absence from duty without leave was rife in the Division. The despondence and general lack of will to fight in the soldiers was glaringly manifest in the large number of cases of self-inflicted injuries thoughout the formation..."
The preceding captures the result of the absence of a winning unit after Boro's death. It is glaring that the division commander did a miscalculation of thinking he could hold it together without Boro.
Getting back to why I suspect that Boro might have been killed in a conspiracy organized by Col Benjamin Adekunle, the then commander of the 3 Marine Commando division, it is noteworthy that a good number of the men of Boro's Brigade had similar suspicion which made them uncontrollable after his death and subsequent dissolution by the powers that-be. Hear Obasanjo: [1]
"It was here in Okrika that Maj. Isaac Adaka Boro was killed, APPARENTLY (emphasis mine) by a fleeing rebel soldier whom he encountered during a private visit. His death led almost immediately to the dissolution of 19 Brigade which became uncontrollable without him"
I took proper notice of the word "apparently" used by a very senior officer who later became a military head of state before writing the book. In Obasanjo's mind therefore, the true circumstances leading to death is unknown.
Despite basing my theory on official record of a senior officer of Obasanjo's calibre, some informal account that give credence to this exist. In an article recorded on the web in [3], one Mr. Akpobulokemi B. Oborokumo has the following to say:
"My cousin Jones, a Regimental Sergeant Major during the Nigerian civil war told me over and over again that Major Boro did not die in the heat of battle with the Biafran forces. He said the area had already been captured and secured by his company and Major Boro was on an inspection tour when they came under fire. My cousin swore by the Ijaw gods that it was an ambush by one of Brigadier Adekunle's units under the scorpion's direct command."
There is enough reason for the government of Bayelsa and the legislators from Bayelsa to get the appropriate federal institition to do a fresh investigation to establish true situation that led to his death. All related documents captured in the course of investigation will become useful for further research by interested persons in future.
At the time of putting this together, my copy of Benjamin Adekunle's new book had not arrived and since Boro's death anniversary of May 16 is past, I thought it timely to give this opinion now and rekindle public interest on the need to do answer the question of "Who Killed Boro". I will update this after reading Adekunle's book.
Thank you.
Hosiah Emmanuel
Ref:
1. General O. Obasanjo. "My Command." Heinneman, Ibadan, 1980.
2. Mr. A. LTare-Otu.
http://www.unitedijawstates.com/boro.htm"
3. Mr. A. B. Oborokumo. "http://www.unitedijawstates.com/boro.htm"
4. Chief G. Fawehinmi. "The Murder of Dikibo. Another Lesson for Niger Delta". http://www.dawodu.com/fawehin1.htm
$16b Power Scam: Who Will Probe Obasanjo?
Daily Independent
Frontline Catholic cleric and social critic, Rev. Fr. Matthew Hassan Kukah perhaps spoke the minds of millions of Nigerians when he said recently that former President Olusegun Obasanjo deserved to be formally tried for his alleged role in the squandering about $16 billion voted for resuscitating the near-dead power sector during his administration between 1999 and 2007. Kukah, a close family friend of the Obasanjos, was the Secretary to the National Political Reforms Conference (NPRC) initiated by the Obasanjo government in 2005. This call, which is a challenge to the Goodluck Jonathan administration, could not have come at a more appropriate time, especially considering the President’s recent assurance that his administration would go after those who looted the national treasury, no matter how highly placed they may be. But many Nigerians doubt if Dr. Jonathan will summon the will to bring his political benefactor to book.
Dr. Kukah, who also chided critics and civil society groups for not doing enough to ensure that Obasanjo is arraigned, said: “Obasanjo probably will never be the President of Nigeria again, but we should be concerned if Obasanjo deserves to go to prison. Vilifying him doesn’t give us (electric) power; it also doesn’t get us the criminals that have taken our money, wherever they are. I would have loved to have Obasanjo brought to trial, because then we would know the truth.†Besides the scandal ravaging the power sector, which the former President directly supervised, the double standards of the Presidency, under him, in the many established cases of corrupt self-enrichment by key government functionaries during his tenure were mind-boggling.
After the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) unearthed a N56 billion fraud by the former Board of Directors of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), for example, Obasanjo failed to institute any process towards recovering the stolen amount and/or prosecuting the culprits, who were said to be his close political allies. Rather, some of those who served on that board were appointed to other boards subsequently. Before that scandal came to light, back in July 2002, Nigerians had been shocked when the then Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Godwin Kanu Agabi, filed a nolle prosequi (discontinuance of prosecution) on the day an Abuja High Court was scheduled to deliver judgment in a case of alleged embezzlement of N420 million by Dr. Julius Makanjuola, Obasanjo’s relation and a Director at the Ministry of Defence. And in 2006, Nigerians were similarly shell-shocked over the revelation of massive pillaging at the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) allegedly involving Obasanjo and his Deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
This was to be followed by allegations of Obasanjo’s involvements in the Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp), which bought over Abuja’s NICON Hilton Hotel, the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), and also acquired some oil blocks.
Fr. Kukah’s recent call is timely. Nigerians continue till today to endure perennial darkness, with no real clue to the cause of the apparent intractability of the power sector’s woes. It is disheartening, in this regard, that like the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, Dr. Jonathan has surrounded himself with some of the key figures that helped ex-President Obasanjo fail so dismally in service delivery. While we commend Jonathan over his appointment of Professor Bath Nnaji as Special Adviser on Power, it must be noted that Mr. Joseph Makoju, a seasoned professional, had held that same position under the Yar’Adua administration and also under the Obasanjo government. In addition, he was PHCN Managing Director for the better part of the latter administration. He ought to be facing intense interrogation over what happened to the alleged misappropriated $16 billion.
And, with discredited functionaries and contractors of the Obasanjo era still hovering around The Presidency and the PHCN, poised to snatch whatever fresh allocations go to the power sector, where is the guarantee that Nigeria will ever have improved electricity supply in the foreseeable future? While we urge the Federal Government to seek out individuals and organizations, locally and abroad, with proven track records in performance and integrity to revive the ailing sector, the issue of the mismanaged billions should not be treated as a ‘family affair’ of the ruling party. Nigeria’s public funds must be accounted for.
Since the National Assembly Probe Committee on the Power scam was itself to be later dragged into the corruption quagmire, we call for a thorough investigation, by the EFCC, into the whereabouts of the vanished power allocations.
The former President, on his part, should cooperate fully with the investigators, in order to clear his name of the strong suspicions surrounding his administration’s wasteful disbursement of the $16 billion power sector allocations. There should be no sacred cows, as he used to say while in office. Any preferential treatment of individuals will create the impression that the Nigerian government’s commitment to the anti-corruption crusade, economic reform and transparent governance is cosmetic and insincere. While sleaze in high places thrives, the ordinary citizens’ quality of life has remained dismal, infrastructural facilities are decrepit, mass unemployment ravages the land, and poverty sentences the vast majority to a life of unrelieved misery.
Frontline Catholic cleric and social critic, Rev. Fr. Matthew Hassan Kukah perhaps spoke the minds of millions of Nigerians when he said recently that former President Olusegun Obasanjo deserved to be formally tried for his alleged role in the squandering about $16 billion voted for resuscitating the near-dead power sector during his administration between 1999 and 2007. Kukah, a close family friend of the Obasanjos, was the Secretary to the National Political Reforms Conference (NPRC) initiated by the Obasanjo government in 2005. This call, which is a challenge to the Goodluck Jonathan administration, could not have come at a more appropriate time, especially considering the President’s recent assurance that his administration would go after those who looted the national treasury, no matter how highly placed they may be. But many Nigerians doubt if Dr. Jonathan will summon the will to bring his political benefactor to book.
Dr. Kukah, who also chided critics and civil society groups for not doing enough to ensure that Obasanjo is arraigned, said: “Obasanjo probably will never be the President of Nigeria again, but we should be concerned if Obasanjo deserves to go to prison. Vilifying him doesn’t give us (electric) power; it also doesn’t get us the criminals that have taken our money, wherever they are. I would have loved to have Obasanjo brought to trial, because then we would know the truth.†Besides the scandal ravaging the power sector, which the former President directly supervised, the double standards of the Presidency, under him, in the many established cases of corrupt self-enrichment by key government functionaries during his tenure were mind-boggling.
After the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) unearthed a N56 billion fraud by the former Board of Directors of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), for example, Obasanjo failed to institute any process towards recovering the stolen amount and/or prosecuting the culprits, who were said to be his close political allies. Rather, some of those who served on that board were appointed to other boards subsequently. Before that scandal came to light, back in July 2002, Nigerians had been shocked when the then Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Godwin Kanu Agabi, filed a nolle prosequi (discontinuance of prosecution) on the day an Abuja High Court was scheduled to deliver judgment in a case of alleged embezzlement of N420 million by Dr. Julius Makanjuola, Obasanjo’s relation and a Director at the Ministry of Defence. And in 2006, Nigerians were similarly shell-shocked over the revelation of massive pillaging at the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) allegedly involving Obasanjo and his Deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
This was to be followed by allegations of Obasanjo’s involvements in the Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp), which bought over Abuja’s NICON Hilton Hotel, the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), and also acquired some oil blocks.
Fr. Kukah’s recent call is timely. Nigerians continue till today to endure perennial darkness, with no real clue to the cause of the apparent intractability of the power sector’s woes. It is disheartening, in this regard, that like the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, Dr. Jonathan has surrounded himself with some of the key figures that helped ex-President Obasanjo fail so dismally in service delivery. While we commend Jonathan over his appointment of Professor Bath Nnaji as Special Adviser on Power, it must be noted that Mr. Joseph Makoju, a seasoned professional, had held that same position under the Yar’Adua administration and also under the Obasanjo government. In addition, he was PHCN Managing Director for the better part of the latter administration. He ought to be facing intense interrogation over what happened to the alleged misappropriated $16 billion.
And, with discredited functionaries and contractors of the Obasanjo era still hovering around The Presidency and the PHCN, poised to snatch whatever fresh allocations go to the power sector, where is the guarantee that Nigeria will ever have improved electricity supply in the foreseeable future? While we urge the Federal Government to seek out individuals and organizations, locally and abroad, with proven track records in performance and integrity to revive the ailing sector, the issue of the mismanaged billions should not be treated as a ‘family affair’ of the ruling party. Nigeria’s public funds must be accounted for.
Since the National Assembly Probe Committee on the Power scam was itself to be later dragged into the corruption quagmire, we call for a thorough investigation, by the EFCC, into the whereabouts of the vanished power allocations.
The former President, on his part, should cooperate fully with the investigators, in order to clear his name of the strong suspicions surrounding his administration’s wasteful disbursement of the $16 billion power sector allocations. There should be no sacred cows, as he used to say while in office. Any preferential treatment of individuals will create the impression that the Nigerian government’s commitment to the anti-corruption crusade, economic reform and transparent governance is cosmetic and insincere. While sleaze in high places thrives, the ordinary citizens’ quality of life has remained dismal, infrastructural facilities are decrepit, mass unemployment ravages the land, and poverty sentences the vast majority to a life of unrelieved misery.
Graft fears as massive cash sums fly out of Kabul
EMMA OKWUAHABA
More than three billion dollars in cash has been flown out of Kabul in recent years amid fears that ill-gotten gains from corruption and narcotics are being stashed overseas, a report said Monday.
The Wall Street Journal said the cash -- more than the Afghan government collects in tax and customs revenue annually -- is legally declared and packed into suitcases or cargo pallets on flights out of Kabul International Airport.
"A lot of this looks like our tax dollars being stolen. And opium, of course," a US official who is investigating corruption and Taliban financing told the newspaper.
Investigators believe some of the cash comes from Western-funded aid projects and US, European and NATO contracts to provide security and reconstruction work for coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Most of the funds passing through the airport are moved by hawalas, often-secretive private money transfer businesses popular in the Islamic world, the WSJ said citing its own review of Afghan customs records.
US dollars, Saudi riyals, Pakistani rupees, Norwegian kroner and even outdated Deutschmarks redeemable for euros are reportedly being flown out of Kabul.
"You get boxes loaded on the back of airplanes. You get guys, literally, bringing boxes of cash onto the plane," said a senior US official quoted by the WSJ.
Investigators believe the hawala customers include top officials and associates in President Hamid Karzai's administration, including a brother of Karzai and Vice President Mohammed Fahim, the report said.
The newspaper carried a denial from the vice president's businessman brother, A.H. Fahim.
"My brother? He doesn't know anything about money," he said.
The president's brother Mahmood Karzai told the Wall Street Journal that he was engaged in legitimate business and had never transferred large sums of cash out of the country.
Rampant corruption and the suspected involvement of top officials in the opium trade has fueled anti-government sentiment and boosted support for the Taliban, undermining US efforts to bolster Karzai's administration.
The declared cash is believed to be only a "small percentage" of the money leaving the airport and all of Afghanistan, General M. Asif Jabar Khail, the chief customs officer at Kabul's airport, was quoted as saying.
Asif said that last year, his customs officers found a "pile of millions of dollars", all undeclared, and tried to stop it leaving on a flight to Dubai.
But "there was lots of pressure from my higher ups", he told the newspaper.
"They told me there was an arrangement with the central bank and told me to let it go," Asif said, declining to name the senior officials who applied pressure.
The Washington Post reported separately that top officials in Karzai's government had often blocked corruption investigations of well-connected Afghans, ordering names to be crossed off criminal files.
The senior officials also forced investigators to disregard evidence against executives of a major financial firm suspected of helping the nation's elite move millions of dollars overseas, the Post report said.
More than three billion dollars in cash has been flown out of Kabul in recent years amid fears that ill-gotten gains from corruption and narcotics are being stashed overseas, a report said Monday.
The Wall Street Journal said the cash -- more than the Afghan government collects in tax and customs revenue annually -- is legally declared and packed into suitcases or cargo pallets on flights out of Kabul International Airport.
"A lot of this looks like our tax dollars being stolen. And opium, of course," a US official who is investigating corruption and Taliban financing told the newspaper.
Investigators believe some of the cash comes from Western-funded aid projects and US, European and NATO contracts to provide security and reconstruction work for coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Most of the funds passing through the airport are moved by hawalas, often-secretive private money transfer businesses popular in the Islamic world, the WSJ said citing its own review of Afghan customs records.
US dollars, Saudi riyals, Pakistani rupees, Norwegian kroner and even outdated Deutschmarks redeemable for euros are reportedly being flown out of Kabul.
"You get boxes loaded on the back of airplanes. You get guys, literally, bringing boxes of cash onto the plane," said a senior US official quoted by the WSJ.
Investigators believe the hawala customers include top officials and associates in President Hamid Karzai's administration, including a brother of Karzai and Vice President Mohammed Fahim, the report said.
The newspaper carried a denial from the vice president's businessman brother, A.H. Fahim.
"My brother? He doesn't know anything about money," he said.
The president's brother Mahmood Karzai told the Wall Street Journal that he was engaged in legitimate business and had never transferred large sums of cash out of the country.
Rampant corruption and the suspected involvement of top officials in the opium trade has fueled anti-government sentiment and boosted support for the Taliban, undermining US efforts to bolster Karzai's administration.
The declared cash is believed to be only a "small percentage" of the money leaving the airport and all of Afghanistan, General M. Asif Jabar Khail, the chief customs officer at Kabul's airport, was quoted as saying.
Asif said that last year, his customs officers found a "pile of millions of dollars", all undeclared, and tried to stop it leaving on a flight to Dubai.
But "there was lots of pressure from my higher ups", he told the newspaper.
"They told me there was an arrangement with the central bank and told me to let it go," Asif said, declining to name the senior officials who applied pressure.
The Washington Post reported separately that top officials in Karzai's government had often blocked corruption investigations of well-connected Afghans, ordering names to be crossed off criminal files.
The senior officials also forced investigators to disregard evidence against executives of a major financial firm suspected of helping the nation's elite move millions of dollars overseas, the Post report said.
Halliburton: Technip to Pay $338m to Settle US Bribery Charges
Ejiofor Alike
Global Engineering firm Technip S.A. has agreed to pay $338 million for scheming to bribe government officials in Nigeria, the United States Justice Department said yesterday.
It said the Paris-based company conducted the alleged bribery scheme to obtain more than $6 billion in contracts to build the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) in Bonny Island of Rivers State.
Technip was part of a four-company joint venture that included US firm Kellogg Brown & Root Incorporated.
The Federal Government awarded four contracts to the joint venture from 1995 to 2004.
Under the settlement, Technip has agreed to pay a $240 million criminal penalty and the Justice Department has filed a deferred prosecution agreement and a criminal information resolving charges of conspiracy and of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The company will pay $98 million to settle a related civil complaint by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Technip authorised the hiring of two agents to pay bribes to Nigerian government officials, according to court papers in the case.
The court papers stated that a senior executive of Technip, KBR's former CEO, Albert "Jack" Stanley, and others asked public servants at critical junctures in the project to designate a representative with whom the joint venture could negotiate the payment of bribes.
The engineering subsidiary of Halliburton Co., Kellog Brown & Root (KBR) Incorporated had earlier pleaded guilty to five federal charges that it paid $180 million as bribes to some high profile officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and NLNG in respect of a contract worth $6 billion.
The administration of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had said $150 million of the bribe money had been traced to an unnamed account in Zurich, Switzerland.
The Federal Government had also said it formally requested the US government to assist Nigeria by de-classifying the information of the court proceedings in the US in respect of the scandal but that government had failed to do so.
However, contrary to the repeated claims of the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, that the US had refused to release necessary information to enable the Federal Government prosecute Nigerians involved in the scam, US had insisted that it had released information needed to prosecute those indicted.
US Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders, disclosed at an event organised by the Petroleum Club in Lagos that her country had not hidden any information from Nigeria on the matter.
Sanders also promised that US would be ready to assist Nigeria with more information in prosecuting those indicted in Nigeria .
US had jailed some top officials of the firm involved in the scandal, while Nigerians indicted by the probe committee set up by the Federal Government and headed by the former Inspector-General of Police Mike Okiro are yet to be prosecuted.
In fact, the real identities of all the Nigerian government officials that received the bribes have not been officially released.
The origin of the bribery scandal can be traced back to 1994 when bids were submitted to build the NLNG plant at a cost of $6 billion.
A joint venture company (TSKJ), between a French engineering company, Technip; an Italian engineering company, Snamprogetti; a US engineering company, KBR, of the Halliburton group; and the Japanese engineering and construction company (JGC) was formed to bid for the contract.
After TSKJ was formed, it set up three companies registered in Madeira , Portugal to recruit two “consulting companies,” Tri-Star Investment Ltd, and Marubeni Incorporated, with the alleged mandate to bribe Nigerian “officials of the executive branch of government, NNPC and NLNG officials, and political party leaders,” according to indictment filed at the US District Court in Houston.
Global Engineering firm Technip S.A. has agreed to pay $338 million for scheming to bribe government officials in Nigeria, the United States Justice Department said yesterday.
It said the Paris-based company conducted the alleged bribery scheme to obtain more than $6 billion in contracts to build the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) in Bonny Island of Rivers State.
Technip was part of a four-company joint venture that included US firm Kellogg Brown & Root Incorporated.
The Federal Government awarded four contracts to the joint venture from 1995 to 2004.
Under the settlement, Technip has agreed to pay a $240 million criminal penalty and the Justice Department has filed a deferred prosecution agreement and a criminal information resolving charges of conspiracy and of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The company will pay $98 million to settle a related civil complaint by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Technip authorised the hiring of two agents to pay bribes to Nigerian government officials, according to court papers in the case.
The court papers stated that a senior executive of Technip, KBR's former CEO, Albert "Jack" Stanley, and others asked public servants at critical junctures in the project to designate a representative with whom the joint venture could negotiate the payment of bribes.
The engineering subsidiary of Halliburton Co., Kellog Brown & Root (KBR) Incorporated had earlier pleaded guilty to five federal charges that it paid $180 million as bribes to some high profile officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and NLNG in respect of a contract worth $6 billion.
The administration of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had said $150 million of the bribe money had been traced to an unnamed account in Zurich, Switzerland.
The Federal Government had also said it formally requested the US government to assist Nigeria by de-classifying the information of the court proceedings in the US in respect of the scandal but that government had failed to do so.
However, contrary to the repeated claims of the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, that the US had refused to release necessary information to enable the Federal Government prosecute Nigerians involved in the scam, US had insisted that it had released information needed to prosecute those indicted.
US Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders, disclosed at an event organised by the Petroleum Club in Lagos that her country had not hidden any information from Nigeria on the matter.
Sanders also promised that US would be ready to assist Nigeria with more information in prosecuting those indicted in Nigeria .
US had jailed some top officials of the firm involved in the scandal, while Nigerians indicted by the probe committee set up by the Federal Government and headed by the former Inspector-General of Police Mike Okiro are yet to be prosecuted.
In fact, the real identities of all the Nigerian government officials that received the bribes have not been officially released.
The origin of the bribery scandal can be traced back to 1994 when bids were submitted to build the NLNG plant at a cost of $6 billion.
A joint venture company (TSKJ), between a French engineering company, Technip; an Italian engineering company, Snamprogetti; a US engineering company, KBR, of the Halliburton group; and the Japanese engineering and construction company (JGC) was formed to bid for the contract.
After TSKJ was formed, it set up three companies registered in Madeira , Portugal to recruit two “consulting companies,” Tri-Star Investment Ltd, and Marubeni Incorporated, with the alleged mandate to bribe Nigerian “officials of the executive branch of government, NNPC and NLNG officials, and political party leaders,” according to indictment filed at the US District Court in Houston.
Independence Conference in Luxury London Hotel
C.V.Akuta.
Hi All,
Please support the protest below.
Great /Nigerians and friends of Nigeria
The Federal Government has earmarked N10 billion for the 50th Independence day celebrations. As part of this profligate waste of funds there is currently a 2 day jamboree at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, in Park Lane, London, W1K 7TN. There has been no press release on the purpose of this conference, or why it is being held in one of the most expensive hotels in one of the most expensive cities, 6000km from our nation’s capital
We have already called and confirmed that this conference is taking place but they refuse to divulge further details
To the best of my knowledge there is no reason for 18 state governors, almost 12 ministers, dozens of ‘Special Assistants’ and officials to confer about 50 years of independence in London, whilst Nigerians suffer back home
Great Nigerians and friends of Nigeria please let us scupper this corrupt waste of Nigeria’s funds. Call Grosvenor House Hotel on 0207 499 6363, query whether the conference is ongoing and request the number of their manager/ complaints department. State that you intend to register your protest in writing, try and get as many details as they will give out.
The objective is to overwhelm the hotel’s switch board with calls, although the hotel is a business obviously following the money we need to make the cost of doing business with corrupt, useless officials higher than any benefits. With the resultant loss of business and adverse publicity, hotels will think twice before accepting such conferences
People, this is an easy one to achieve, lets get out and make this happen
Hi All,
Please support the protest below.
Great /Nigerians and friends of Nigeria
The Federal Government has earmarked N10 billion for the 50th Independence day celebrations. As part of this profligate waste of funds there is currently a 2 day jamboree at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, in Park Lane, London, W1K 7TN. There has been no press release on the purpose of this conference, or why it is being held in one of the most expensive hotels in one of the most expensive cities, 6000km from our nation’s capital
We have already called and confirmed that this conference is taking place but they refuse to divulge further details
To the best of my knowledge there is no reason for 18 state governors, almost 12 ministers, dozens of ‘Special Assistants’ and officials to confer about 50 years of independence in London, whilst Nigerians suffer back home
Great Nigerians and friends of Nigeria please let us scupper this corrupt waste of Nigeria’s funds. Call Grosvenor House Hotel on 0207 499 6363, query whether the conference is ongoing and request the number of their manager/ complaints department. State that you intend to register your protest in writing, try and get as many details as they will give out.
The objective is to overwhelm the hotel’s switch board with calls, although the hotel is a business obviously following the money we need to make the cost of doing business with corrupt, useless officials higher than any benefits. With the resultant loss of business and adverse publicity, hotels will think twice before accepting such conferences
People, this is an easy one to achieve, lets get out and make this happen
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