Latest: APC Presidential Candidate; General Muhammadu Buhari Faces Arrest In U.K For 1984 Kidnap of Umaru Dikko ______ Thirty one years after his government sponsored the failed abduction and illegal deportation of the erstwhile influential Minister of Transport Alhaji Umaru Dikko via a cargo crate, General Muhammadu Buhari’s proposed attempt to return to the United Kingdom as part of his global campaign circuit, received a major setback recently as most major UK and European based institutions have turned down his request for visitation. Investigations indicate that the Buhari Campaign team has received a sour reception from some institutions Government and non- government organizations. A source in the know revealed that a consultant working for the campaign approached the Chatam House, the House of Commons, members of the EU, as well as top advocacy groups, policy makers and public opinion molders. Further investigation indicates that the rejection is not unconnected with the poor human rights record of General Muhammadu Buhari during his reign as military head of state of Nigeria. The APC’s Presidential candidate’s perceived link with extremist Islamic organizations as well as his propensity to instigate electoral violence did not help his case. The U.K Foreign Office’s most recent annual report on human rights and democracy said the country will reject any ties with known despots and human rights violators. It condemned “The use of unlawful and arbitrary measures to target human rights defenders including enforced disappearance; house arrest; restrictions on freedom of movement, communication and association; extrajudicial detention and harassment of family members by both past and current leaders across the globe”. However it was gathered that top APC wigs are puling all strings to seek alternative platform for the ex-military dictator. But some human rights groups are mulling the idea of instituting process that could lead to the arrest of the former dictator to answer charges on the botched extra-judicial deportation of the late Umaru Dikko. Buhari could be charged under the popular United Kingdom Common law which carries a maximum life sentence for ordering the kidnap and barbaric deportation of Dikko a move which sparked a major diplomatic row between Nigeria and the UK. Lawyers also point out that that the botched kidnapped also contravened the British Aviation Security Act of 1982. It would be recalled that the plane designated to transport the abducte was waiting in the tarmac for its `consignment’ before eagle eyed UK custom officials intervened. The Dikko kidnap affair ordered by General Muhammadu Buhari was a joint Nigerian- Isreali operation using Mossad agents across Europe. On 30 June 1984, a Mossad agent driving down London’s Queensway spotted Dikko. He parked his car and then tailed Dikko on foot to his house in Porchester Terrace. Late in the evening of 3 July 1984, a Nigerian Airways Boeing 707 aircraft arrived London empty, and the pilot notified the authorities that the plane had arrived to pick up diplomatic baggage from the Nigerian embassy. On board were several Nigerian security guards, who openly identified themselves as such and stated that they were there to protect the baggage. Their presence was reported to Scotland Yards Special Branch. The following day, Dikko was kidnapped in front of his home while he was out for a walk and taken away in a van driven by a security agent called Yusufu. He was then drugged into unconsciousness by one Dr. Levi-Arie Shapiro, an Israeli doctor who was a consultant anesthetist and director of the intensive care unit at HaSharon Hospital. Shapiro was recruited by Isreali Mossad. Dikko and Shapiro were placed in one crate (dimensions 1.2 x 1.2 x 1.5 meters), while Mossad agents Alexander Barak and Felix Abithol occupied a second. However, proper documentation that would have ensured that the cargo could not be inspected was not provided. The crates were not labeled as diplomatic bags, as required by Article 27(4) of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. As a result, customs officials were able to open the crates without violating the convention and foil the kidnapping. The British government immediately expelled two members of the Nigerian High Commission in London, including the High Commissioner. Diplomatic relations with Nigeria were broken off for two years. The CEO of Nigeria Airways was at one point almost arrested by British police. No fewer than seventeen men were arrested;four were convicted and sentenced to prison terms of 10 to 14 years: Shapiro, and Yusufu served between 4 and six years, and were quietly deported by the British government. The Buhari Campaign planned trip coming at a time, the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, David Cameron is facing severe criticism for his perceived watering down of Britain’s “ethical” foreign policy towards human rights violators and known despots. Eleanor Byrne-Rosengren, director of the campaign group Free Tibet, said recently on dealing with dictators, “Mr Cameron needs to restore our pride”. “Mr Cameron stands up for human rights in Sri Lanka and the right of self-determination in the Falklands. He must show to the world that Britain stands up for justice everywhere.” The APC had planned the global lecture circuit for their Presidential candidate as part of the world wide campaign to drum up international exposure for General Buhari whose relatively unpopular among members of the international community. It was also gathered that the APC intends to use the tour to extend its ongoing campaign designed to achieving total discrediting of the president and his team in a bid to place him in a very weak position before a nation that would be clamouring for a change as a prelude to the February 14 Presidential polls. Per Second News revealed in August that the opposition’s plan is to portray President Goodluck Jonathan as indecisive and weak. A specific aspect of the agenda which is the portrayal of the Jonathan presidency as anti- people and a puppet of some international agency and governments, in line with the transcript of the U.K based Burson-Marsteller PR Firm in London to boost the profile of the opposition party. #PSN
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 02:39:37 +0000
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