Dasuki defends $5.7mn arms transaction in South Africa October 7 , 2014 • By pmnews Nigeria has denied any wrongdoing over the $ 5 . 7million frozen by South Africa in a bank . In a reaction to the news of the second seizure of another Nigerian money by South African authorities, a spokesman for Nigeria ’ s National Security Adviser explained : “ We want to state clearly that a business transaction actually took place between a legitimate company in Nigeria and another legitimate one in South Africa through the bank , ” said Karounwi Adekunle, speaking on behalf of Dasuki. “ In the course of events , the South African company could not perform and decided to refund the money. What is illegitimate in this transaction done through the bank ?” , Adekunle asked . The statement reminded South Africa of how Nigeria has provided a beneficial environment for South African companies like MTN , DSTV and a host of others to do business unhindered. “ It is our hope that South Africa would reciprocate this noble gesture” , the statement added . The City Press of South Africa had reported Monday quoting its sister paper ,Rapport, that the $ 5 .7 million was seized by The Asset Forfeiture Unit of the National Prosecuting Authority ( NPA) though it bore the imprimatur of senior security officials from Nigeria. According to the report from South Africa, Nigeria’ s National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki , a colonel , personally issued the end -user certificate for the arms the money was meant to buy. An entire “ shopping list” was supplied with the certificate , which included everything from helicopters to unmanned aircraft, rockets and ammunition. Sources close to the investigation said the latest transaction was between Cerberus Risk Solutions , an arms broker in Cape Town , and Societe D’ Equipments Internationaux , a Nigerian company in Abuja. An impeccable source said this company paid the R60 million into Cerberus’ account at Standard Bank. Cerberus was previously registered as a broker with the National Conventional Arms Control Committee ( NCACC) , but the registration expired in May this year . 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 NPA ’ s Asset Forfeiture Unit subsequently obtained a court order in the South Gauteng High Court to seize the money. The publicity around the second seizure, after the 5 September incident when two Nigerians and an Israeli were busted trying to bring $9 . 3 million cash into South Africa, must have been a big embarrassment to the Nigerian government .
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 08:02:43 +0000
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