President Goodluck Jonathan has been told by the National Working Committee of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) to probe the alleged $9.3 million found in the aircraft of the President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor in South Africa.
In a statement signed by the national publicity secretary of the forum, Muhammad Ibrahim, it was alleged that such money could be for the purchase of illegal arms and ammunition into the country.
According to the statement “The meeting examined the alleged $9.3million scandal, which an aircraft belonging to the CAN president was used to ferry this huge amount of money in cash out of Nigeria to South Africa for the purpose of purchasing arms and ammunitions on the orders of the Federal Government.
This shoddy arms deal contravened established due process procedure of arms and weapons procurement and also a breach of the laws of Nigeria, South Africa and the United Nations.
While ACF appreciates the effort of government to contain the insurgency in the North East and other parts of Nigeria, laid down procedure of arms procurement must be followed to avoid illegal arms importation into the country especially now that we are faced with many security challenges of insurgency and unnecessary killing of innocent persons.
ACF calls on the National Assembly to institute a panel of inquiry to investigate this scandal especially the involvement of the CAN president, the Israelites and the government officials and bring the culprits to book no matter their positions, to serve as deterrent to others and equally protect the integrity of Nigeria.
“The forum deliberated extensively on the current security challenges in the country and in particular the recent attacks on the students of Federal College of Education, Kano, some villages in Sanga LGA of Kaduna State and in Shinkafi and Maradu villages of Zamfara State where many innocent lives and property were destroyed and other issues of national importance.
The forum resolved to issue the following statement:
“In reviewing the general security situation, the meeting while appreciating the efforts of government, the security and intelligence agencies in combating the insurgency in the North East region, it however condemns in strong terms the continued attacks and killing of innocent people by unknown gunmen and suspected cattle rustlers without counter action from security agencies.
Furthermore, suspected sponsors and financiers of such atrocities have continued to enjoy Government protection and cover while innocent Nigerians are being killed. This situation is unacceptable as it erodes people’s confidence in government and it’s cherished security institutions.”
Leave a Reply