The Federal Government is to demand the
release of the $9.3m weapon money seized from some agents of the
immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan by the South African
authorities on September 5, 2014.
President Muhammadu Buhari made this
known while addressing Nigerians resident in the former Apartheid
enclave at the Nigeran Consulate in Johannesburg on Monday.
He also told the gathering that he would
seek a review of the cases of Nigerians currently in South African
prisons and those pending in courts when President Jacob Zuma visits
Nigeria.
The President said, “I’m told there are
83 Nigerians in prisons here(South Africa); I don’t know what they
have done but I spoke to the President of South Africa this(Monday)
afternoon.
“He(Zuma) wants to come to Nigeria.
There are issues he knows which he wants to talk about. I will certainly
talk to him; I hope our ambassador will send a comprehensive report
about the court cases and about those who lost properties during the
xenophobic attacks recently.
“And at that time, I will attempt to ask him about our $9.3m which was not correctly transferred.”
A month after the September 5,2014
seizure, the South African authorities reportedly impounded another
$5.7m, claiming that both funds were to be used for illegal purchase of
arms.
However, Nigeria’s National Security
Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, said the transactions were legal and urged the
Zuma government to stop actions that could degenerate to a diplomatic
showdown between the two countries.
Indications later emerged that an
aircraft conveying the $9.3m belonged to the President of the
Christian Association of Nigeria and a close confidant of Jonathan,
Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor.
Oritsejafor denied knowledge of the arms deal.
Buhari, who also spoke on the Boko Haram
insurgency in the North-East, urged Nigerians resident in South Africa
to be good ambassadors of “our country.”
“Those of you who have the opportunity
to come here and represent us, make sure that you are representing
Nigeria, you are all ambassadors of Nigeria. This means a lot of
patience, restraint, self-respect and pride. You must have all these,
“he advised.
He said he was pleased that the G-7
leaders had expressed commitment to helping Nigeria tackle the
challenge and develop its oil and gas sectors.
The President added that the leaders
of the Lake Chad Basin Commission had set up a military command
headquarters in Chad with a Nigerian general heading it.
Earlier, the Consul-General of Nigeria
in South Africa, Ambassador Uche Ajulu-Okeke, had told the President
that 143 Nigerians were killed in South Africa between 2011 and 2014
while 81 were in prison.
“Out of these 81 Nigerians, 21 have been
convicted,” she said, adding that shops and other property worth
millions of Rands belonging to Nigerians were destroyed during the
xenophobic attacks.
The President of Nigerian Union in South
Africa, Ikechukwu Anyene, urged the President to facilitate
compensation for Nigerians affected by the attacks.
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