Following the alleged discovery of
boxes with arms within the popular
Amigo Supermarket complex in Abuja,
the State Security Services (SSS) has
begun moves to demolish the
supermarket, which is owned by some
Lebanese who have been linked with
terrorism activities such as providing
cells for the Hezbollah terror group
in Kano.
This was made known by an online
organization that claimed the SSS had
requested the approval of President
Goodluck Jonathan to demolish the
supermarket over a week after the
investigators had sealed off the
supermarket, but had refused to grant
it.
According to Premium Times, SSS
sources said that the president had
refused to communicate his decision on
the matter to the agency, more than three
days after, as it was the case with
reports sent by the department. The
development, it was learnt, had raised
fears that the president might veto the
proposal and stall further action on the
matter.
While the department recommended, in the
report sent on Monday to the president,
that the sprawling mall, estimated at over
N5 billion be bulldozed and the area
thoroughly searched for more arms, it
suggested that the land on which Abuja’s
biggest amusement park, Wonderland, also
owned by the Lebanese, was built be
revoked immediately by the Federal Capital
Territory Administration (FCTA).
The property hosting the park is said to
be owned by the FCTA and was only leased
to the group for 10 years, sources said.
“We have sent in our report, but we can’t
proceed without an approval by the
president on such a matter of national
security,” a senior official of the SSS
involved in the investigations said.
SSS spokesperson Marilyn Ogar did not
respond to phone calls seeking to get the
agency’s official reaction and next line
of action.
The president’s office did not also
respond to request for response to this
story. Emailed request for comments to
presidential spokesperson Reuben Abati on
why the president has not decided was
unanswered; his mobile telephone number
was not available as at the time of this
report, the online outfit said.
Officials well briefed about Amigo /
Wonderland investigations say the SSS’
recommendation that the supermarket be
pulled down was based on three reasons:
the security agency believes the place was
used for stockpiling weapons. Also,
investigators said they have evidence that
proceeds of sales from the multi-billion
enterprise had been used in funding
terrorism; and the SSS expressed concern
that a new administration after Jonathan’s
might reallocate the property to the
Lebanese group.
The last scenario is reflected upon the
well-known case of the Indian business
group, Vaswani brothers, who were deported
by the Obasanjo administration for money
laundering but were ushered back into the
country at the advent of a successor
administration of Umaru Yar’Adua in 2007.
The Jonathan administration has already
faced criticisms for its response to what
investigators say is a clear terrorism
case, after the authorities took more than
24 hours since the discovery of weapons in
Kano last week before shutting down
property linked to the suspects, including
Amigo and Wonderland, both in the heart of
the Nigerian capital. The Abuja property
was sealed off on Friday night while the
Nigerian military had revealed the
discovered weapons in a Kano property on
Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, counsel to the arrested
suspects, Bamidele Aturu, has questioned
the rationale behind the move to demolish
the Amigo structure.
Aturu threatened legal action against the
federal government if those arrested were
not charged to court on Wednesday as
required by law. “What law allows the
demolition? Nobody supports terrorism, but
what we are asking is that they follow the
laws of the land,” he told Premium Times
on phone.
Mr Aturu said he had not been allowed to
speak to his detained clients (the three
Lebanese arrested) including a co-owner of
the two Abuja companies, Mustapha Fawaz,
since their incarceration.
boxes with arms within the popular
Amigo Supermarket complex in Abuja,
the State Security Services (SSS) has
begun moves to demolish the
supermarket, which is owned by some
Lebanese who have been linked with
terrorism activities such as providing
cells for the Hezbollah terror group
in Kano.
This was made known by an online
organization that claimed the SSS had
requested the approval of President
Goodluck Jonathan to demolish the
supermarket over a week after the
investigators had sealed off the
supermarket, but had refused to grant
it.
According to Premium Times, SSS
sources said that the president had
refused to communicate his decision on
the matter to the agency, more than three
days after, as it was the case with
reports sent by the department. The
development, it was learnt, had raised
fears that the president might veto the
proposal and stall further action on the
matter.
While the department recommended, in the
report sent on Monday to the president,
that the sprawling mall, estimated at over
N5 billion be bulldozed and the area
thoroughly searched for more arms, it
suggested that the land on which Abuja’s
biggest amusement park, Wonderland, also
owned by the Lebanese, was built be
revoked immediately by the Federal Capital
Territory Administration (FCTA).
The property hosting the park is said to
be owned by the FCTA and was only leased
to the group for 10 years, sources said.
“We have sent in our report, but we can’t
proceed without an approval by the
president on such a matter of national
security,” a senior official of the SSS
involved in the investigations said.
SSS spokesperson Marilyn Ogar did not
respond to phone calls seeking to get the
agency’s official reaction and next line
of action.
The president’s office did not also
respond to request for response to this
story. Emailed request for comments to
presidential spokesperson Reuben Abati on
why the president has not decided was
unanswered; his mobile telephone number
was not available as at the time of this
report, the online outfit said.
Officials well briefed about Amigo /
Wonderland investigations say the SSS’
recommendation that the supermarket be
pulled down was based on three reasons:
the security agency believes the place was
used for stockpiling weapons. Also,
investigators said they have evidence that
proceeds of sales from the multi-billion
enterprise had been used in funding
terrorism; and the SSS expressed concern
that a new administration after Jonathan’s
might reallocate the property to the
Lebanese group.
The last scenario is reflected upon the
well-known case of the Indian business
group, Vaswani brothers, who were deported
by the Obasanjo administration for money
laundering but were ushered back into the
country at the advent of a successor
administration of Umaru Yar’Adua in 2007.
The Jonathan administration has already
faced criticisms for its response to what
investigators say is a clear terrorism
case, after the authorities took more than
24 hours since the discovery of weapons in
Kano last week before shutting down
property linked to the suspects, including
Amigo and Wonderland, both in the heart of
the Nigerian capital. The Abuja property
was sealed off on Friday night while the
Nigerian military had revealed the
discovered weapons in a Kano property on
Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, counsel to the arrested
suspects, Bamidele Aturu, has questioned
the rationale behind the move to demolish
the Amigo structure.
Aturu threatened legal action against the
federal government if those arrested were
not charged to court on Wednesday as
required by law. “What law allows the
demolition? Nobody supports terrorism, but
what we are asking is that they follow the
laws of the land,” he told Premium Times
on phone.
Mr Aturu said he had not been allowed to
speak to his detained clients (the three
Lebanese arrested) including a co-owner of
the two Abuja companies, Mustapha Fawaz,
since their incarceration.
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