Nigeria Versus Iran: Who Wins?

Tuesday, October 26, 2010 was somewhat ‘turbulent’ in Nigeria’s relations with Iran. It was the day that witnessed the discovery of rockets, grenades and explosives in thirteen (13) containers surreptitiously shipped to Nigeria from Iran, and impounded at the Apapa port in Lagos. This  discovery has placed the nation’s security apparatus and para military agencies on their toes and on ‘red alert’. 

 Reactions within and outside the shores of Nigeria had trailed the discovery, as expected. But while investigation continues, Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia met with its Iranian counterpart and the Iranian Embassy in Abuja. Not satisfied with the outcome of the meetings and not ready to take chances, Nigeria opted to report Iran to the United Nations on Monday, November 15.

For Ajumogobia, this is another litmus test on his ability to manage Nigeria’s relations with Iran in the midst of controversy and heightened suspicion. How far can he get the United Nations (UN) on the side of Nigeria in the ragging controversy – given the high-level diplomacy and lobbying  such matters of global magnitude involves?

Coming on the heels of his earlier appearance before the UN to defend a policy and decision of the Nigerian government on arms importation and ensure the world sees Nigeria in good light, this current  challenge is indeed a litmus test for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, under Ajumogobia. Will Nigeria win Iran at the United Nations or will Iran maneuver her way and emerge ‘stainless’ at the end of the day? Nigeria indeed, depends largely on her Foreign Ministry’s expertise in international relations to record a ‘heart trick’ over Iran, notwithstanding Iran’s face-off with the global body over her ‘nuclear power’ status .

It will be recalled that Ajumogobia was at the UN on Friday, July 16, 2010 to defend Nigerian government’s policy on the review of the 376 bilateral agreements the nation had with other nations. The  Rivers State-born Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) rose in stout defence of the decision of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the UN, when he told the world-body that the review was not in the context of unilaterally changing the terms of the agreement but in ensuring that they were operational.

He had told the UN, “Nigeria has different ministries, departments and agencies of government that have entered into hundreds of bilateral agreements across the world. A significant number of these have become moribund, in that neither Nigeria nor the other countries have taken any interest in implementation. So the FEC has set up a committee to review all the agreements.” He added that, “the Minister of National Planning conferred with me and undertook to review all these agreements”.

Before   Ajumogobia took Iran to the UN, he made it lucidly clear at the press briefing in Abuja on Friday, November 12 that Nigeria was not shadow-chasing but had facts to back-up her position that the weapons emanated from the Middle East country.

Ajumogobia was assertive and emphatic that “the consignments did originate from Iran. That has been confirmed from our own shipping documents and the Iranian authorities. The consignee was a Nigerian, the shipping document showed  the notifying party as a Nigerian, one Abbas Usman. He also goes by another name, so that is part of the investigation. The goods were being shipped to an address in Wuse in Abuja.

“The shipping agent was contacted and the goods were cleared from the port and stored in a bonded warehouse in Lagos and this was back in July / August of this year. It was in the course of the goods being moved from the bonded warehouse back to the ports for shipment out of Nigeria that they were intercepted” he said.

Ajumogobia argued that at that point, “another set of shipping documents appeared and the individuals who were connected to the shipment suggested that these goods were being trans-shipped through Nigeria to the Gambia, that aspect of the investigation has not been concluded. One of the individuals connected to this shipment is an Iranian national who, we understand from security reports, took refuge in the Iranian embassy.

“I am pleased to advise that following my very productive meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister, Dr. Manouchehr Mutaki last night, he immediately directed that access be given to our security agents to interview this individual on the circumstances of the shipment, its destination and why we had a Nigerian consignee. The Iranian national applied for a visa to enter Nigeria and there is correspondence that shows he was connected with the Nigerian importer and that is why the security agencies have been anxious to speak with him”, he added.

The name of the Iranian national connected with the shipment (who took refuge at the Iranian embassy in Abuja) is given as Azimi Agajany, and Ajumogobia confirmed that the Iranian government officially accepted that the secret shipment of the high caliber weapons actually originated from Iran even though Iran claimed the consignments were on transit to Gambia and not meant for Nigeria or the Gaza Strip (as claimed by Israel).

It is already clear at this stage that prior to the shipment of the consignment, Agajany, the Iranian point-man of the shipment initially displayed a lack of knowledge about Nigeria’s geography as he wanted the consignments shipped to Abuja. When confronted with the fact that Abuja has no port and that the city lies hundreds of kilometers from the coast, he opted for Lagos as the destination of the shipment.

Equally intriguing in this whole bazaar episode of  arms shipment is the resolve of Agajany and his collaborators to conceal the actual contents of the 13 containers in absolute secrecy, raising questions as to what their real motive was.

According to reports, the containers containing the arms were declared as building materials and discharged  from the “CMA CGM Everest” vessel (at the ever busy Apapa port). The Controller-General of Nigeria Customs Services, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi was quoted as saying that “754 packages of glass wool and stones were declared on the ship’s manifest as contents of the 13 containers”.

 Also, at the time, the shipment in question was booked as a ‘shippers owned container’ and supplied loaded, and sealed by the shipper (Agajany), described as “an Iranian trader who does not appear on any forbidden persons listing”.

Even the CMA CGM company was emphatic that the arms originated from Iran. The France-based company which operates the Marshall Islands – flagged vessel confessed that the containers were loaded in Bandar Abbas by a ‘local trader’, at the southern port city of Iran, and discharged in Lagos in July and after three months, were meant to be reloaded and sent to the Gambia. The firm said, clearance had been obtained before customs officials intervened and halted the shipment.

Investigations show that there is overwhelming evidence linking Iran with the shipment. Now that the matter is in the court of the UN, under the watchful eyes of the global body’s sanctions committee – which is expected to superintend  in the matter, it is expected that UN will condemn Iran, and possibly further sanction her for the arms shipment.

To achieve this, many people believe that Ajumugobia needs to draw the UN’s attention to the views of some diplomats in New York that Iran would appear to be in breach of the United Nations sanctions regime, which forbids it from exporting any kind of weapons directly or indirectly, if the seized weapons were originally loaded on its territory.

As Nigerians, and indeed the world at large, await the outcome of the UN Sanctions Committee’s findings on the report lodged by Ajumugobia, the Nigeria Customs Service that blew the lid open on the arms shipment, the State Security Service (SSS), the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Ports Authority, Nigerian Air Force and National drug Law Enforcement Agency that were at the scene of the discovery on Tuesday, October 26, need to intensity  their search for more discoveries, especially to ascertain if similar  weapons had found their way through the port into the hinterland, especially as preparations for Nigeria’s 2011 general elections gather momentum by the day amidst animosity-cum-uncertainty.

Justus Awaji, Abuja