S/Africa, Nigeria @ War over Seizure of New $5.7m Arms Cash

South Africa authorities have confiscated fresh $5.7 million arms money from Nigeria, about three weeks after seizing $9.3 million in cash transported by two Nigerians and an Israeli for arms purchase, South Africa-based City Express reported on Monday.

But the Federal Government said Monday, contrary to insinuations, said end user certificates and a “shopping” list accompanied the transactions, as well as a note authenticating the deals.

As with the first deal, South Africa’s Asset Forfeiture Unit of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) seized the $5.7 million (about N952 million) for allegedly being the proceeds of illegal transactions, the paper said.

“Both are now the subject of a criminal investigation and all possible information and connections are being investigated,” Mr Nathi Mncube, spokesperson of NPA was quoted as saying.

However, the military said South African media vindicated the legitimacy of the arms deal and described it as “an old story being refreshed for impact.”

According to the reports, documents showed that the earlier consignment was approved by the Nigerian government, through the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), which is officially mandated to issue the end-user certificate for such transactions that involved security agencies in Nigeria.

An entire “shopping list” was also said to have been supplied with the certificate, which included everything from helicopters to unmanned aircraft, rockets and ammunition.

PR Nigeria, which consults for the Nigeria military said, a top security source in the intelligence service disclosed that “in issuing end-user certificate, the NSA ensures it carried all relevant agencies and stakeholders along, a development that shows it was not unilateral.

“For security reasons, the chains leading to the issuance of end-user certificate cannot be put in the public domain.

“The recent interest in arms purchase was informed by the challenges of insurgency which our nation had been grappling with in the last few years. This is why the understanding of all Nigerians is necessary.

“Nigeria is desperate to counter the activities of terrorists, no matter what it takes, even when some of our friends are not being fair to us,” he said.

The PR statement appealed to the media and all Nigerians, especially the opposition, to consider the overall national interest on security issues.

The curious interest in the nation’s arms deal in the past few weeks appeared to have suggested that some vested interests did not want the nation to win the war against insurgency, with some fifth columnists said to be at work to achieve a clandestine purpose.

The government and some top intelligence officers in the country were concerned about how some officials of South Africa decided to frustrate the efforts of Nigeria at containing the activities of terrorists operating in the North-East axis, especially since authoritative sources confirmed that there were official communications at the top level of the two governments.

Some diplomats in Nigeria were also concerned that despite the leeway given to South African companies to thrive in Nigeria, there were officials of the country who are determined to frustrate Nigeria.

The latest transaction, according to the South African paper, was between Cerberus Risk Solutions, an arms broker in Cape Town and Societe D’Equipments Internationaux, said to be a Nigerian company based in Abuja.

The paper said the deal fell apart after Cerberus, which had earlier received from Nigeria R60 million (N1.02 billion) in its  account at Standard Bank, tried to repay the money, as it it could not resolve its registration formalities with the South African authorities.

“Cerberus was previously registered as a broker with the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), but the registration expired in May this year,” City Press said.

“The marketing and contracting permits also expired at the same time. The company has since applied for re-registration, but the application lay in the NCACC’s mailbox for more than two months.

“Sources told Rapport that Cerberus apparently tried to pay the money back to the Nigerian company, after which the bank became suspicious,” the paper reported.

The paper added that while the NPA’s Asset Forfeiture Unit subsequently obtained a court order in the South Gauteng High Court to seize the money, the NPA spokesperson, Mncube, said there were no indication the two transactions were related.

In the first deal, the NPA said there was an invoice for helicopters and armaments intended to be used in Nigeria.

Two black plastic suitcases, filled with 90 blocks each containing $100,000 in notes, with combination locks, were seized, as well as two pieces of hand luggage also containing US currency, according to City Press.

The Israeli national, Eyal Mesika, had the combination to open the locks.

Under South African laws, a person entering or leaving the country is expected to carry cash not exceeding $2,300, or the equivalent in foreign currency notes.

The South African newspaper, City Press, said documents in its possession showed that the first consignment was personally signed off by the NSA, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd), who issued the end-user certificate for the transaction.

An entire “shopping list” was supplied with the certificate, which included everything from helicopters to unmanned aircraft, rockets and ammunition, it said.