Azim Aghajani, Quds Chife in Africa, Accused of Deception in Arms Trafficking

A Nigerian on trial over an arms shipment seized in Lagos told authorities an alleged Iranian Revolutionary Guard member lied to him about the containers' contents, court documents said Tuesday.

In his statement made to secret police and read out in court, Ali Abbas Jega said that his co-accused, Azim Aghajani, "deceived" him into believing that the consignment contained building materials.

"Azim duped and deceived me to use my office address to receive the consignment ... he told me they were building materials and not weapons," the statement said.

Jega's lawyer, Aliyu Musa Yawuri, also told the court that documents indicated the shipment was wrongly routed to Nigeria.

"They were meant for Gambia," he stated.

Iran has already said the shipment was destined for Gambia and was part of an agreement between the two countries, but Banjul has denied being the intended recipient and has severed ties with Tehran.

Senegal has also cut ties with Iran and expressed concern that the weapons could have ended up in the hands of rebels in its south.

The two accused are on trial together in a Nigerian court for allegedly importing bombs, grenades and rockets sent from Iran and seized in October at a Lagos port.

The prosecution accuses the two suspects of illegally importing them and say the weapons were under their control. They are also accused of having falsely declared the 13 containers as building materials.

Both men have pleaded not guilty to four counts against them.

The case has drawn international attention because it may constitute a violation of UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

Nigeria has reported the seizure to the UN Security Council, which has approved four sets of sanctions against Iran, including a ban on arms sales.

A UN panel of experts on sanctions on Iran was in Nigeria earlier this year to investigate the weapons shipment.

The judge adjourned the trial until March 21, when prosecutors are expected to question additional witnesses

The Rest @ AFP

Iranian Arms captured in Nigeria Headed to Gambia

Arms shipment found in Nigeria loaded in Iran: firm

by Staff WritersLagos (AFP) Oct 29, 2010

An illegal arms shipment including rockets and grenades discovered in Nigeria this week was loaded in Iran by an Iranian trader, the firm that operates the vessel that delivered it said on Friday.

Security agents this week intercepted 13 containers declared as building materials and discharged from the CMA CGM Everest vessel at the country's busiest port of Apapa in Nigeria's economic hub of Lagos.

"The shipment in question was booked as a 'shippers owned container' and supplied loaded and sealed by the shipper, an Iranian trader who does not appear on any 'forbidden persons' listing," said CMA CGM, which operates the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel.

CMA CGM, based in France, said the containers were loaded in Bandar Abbas, a southern port city of Iran, and discharged in Lagos in July.

But last week the shipper asked to have the containers reloaded and sent to the Gambia, a tiny west African country wedged inside Senegal, according to the firm.

Clearance had been obtained before Nigerian customs intervened and halted the shipment, according to CMA CGM.

Iranian embassy officials in Nigeria refused to comment, saying a statement would be issued later.

A Nigerian intelligence agency spokeswoman has said authorities were on heightened alert following October 1 twin car bombings in the capital that killed at least 12 people.

Ten of the containers opened so far contain an array of weaponry, customs spokesman Wale Adeniyi said, despite being declared as building materials.

CMA CGM said it has been cleared of any involvement in the illegal shipment and called itself the "victim of (a) false cargo declaration."

Two people have reportedly been arrested in connection with the cargo, but security officials have not confirmed the reports.

Authorities have publicly refused to speculate on the origins or destination of the shipment, coming just months before presidential elections, but have heightened port security.
"Certainly security at the ports has been beefed up and we are trying to move up ahead ... and tighten our own systems to block such shipments," Adeniyi told AFP.

Regarding paperwork for the shipment that contained the weapons, Adeniyi said "the documents were irregular... and we felt that the names given on them were false."

Precise quantities of the weapons will be known after all the containers are opened, he said.
So far, the 10 examined contained "similar contents -- mortars, grenades, light ammunition and of course tiles," said Adeniyi.

The ship's last port of call before arriving in Nigeria was India's Jawaharlal Nehru port near Mumbai, the customs service has said. The vessel berthed in the Nigerian port on July 10 and sailed out on July 15.

Illegal weapons are widespread in Nigeria, and the discovery has sparked fresh concerns with presidential elections set to be held early next year. Ballots have frequently been tainted by violence in the oil-rich nation.

Militants in the Niger Delta, the country's main oil-producing region, have carried out scores of attacks there in recent years.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the country's most prominent militant group, claimed the October 1 car bombings.

A series of attacks have also been carried out by suspected members of an Islamist sect, known as Boko Haram, in the country's north in recent months.

The Rest @ The Terra Daily



This came later from CNN:
( Shimron Issachar )

(CNN) -- Iran's foreign minister said Monday that a shipment of arms intercepted in Nigeria was shipped from a private company and destined for another West African country.

"A private company which had sold conventional and defensive weapons to a West African country had transferred the shipment through Nigeria," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters, according to Iran's state-run Press TV.

Security forces in Nigeria said last week they believed the shipment was bound for Nigeria.

The country's security service said it seized 13 shipping containers in the port of Lagos filled with illegal weapons, including rockets, grenades and bullets. Each shipping container carried 20 wooden crates, and a leading global shipping company said the weaponry came from Iran.

Mottaki said Monday that a representative of the company that shipped the arms had met with Nigerian authorities to explain the situation.

"Our enemies had insinuated that the shipment was intended for Nigeria," Mottaki said, Press-TV reported.

Mottaki and his Nigerian counterpart, Odein Ajumogobia, met Thursday, with Mottaki pledging Iran's cooperation in the investigation.

The company that shipped the arms, CMA CGM, said it was a victim of a false cargo declaration. The shipper listed the materials inside the containers as "packages of glass wool and pallets of stone."

The containers in question were loaded in Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran, and discharged in Lagos in July, the company said.

There has been Christian-Muslim sectarian violence in northern Nigeria, and analysts say the upcoming vote will potentially be one of the most controversial and violent election periods in the country's history. It pits President Goodluck Jonathan, from the Christian south, against candidates from the Muslim north.

The Rest @ CNN

West African Coastal Fishermen become Drug Mules

29th July, 2008

Fishermen in Africa are increasingly turning to drug and people trafficking to boost their meager incomes as fish stocks dry up.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has said:

• large boats are heading from Latin America to African islands, where drugs are transferred into many smaller fishing boats which proceed along the coast to unload their cargo in the Gambia, Senegal and Guinea-Conakry.
• Guinea Bissau has increasingly become a transit hub for organised criminal networks trafficking drugs from Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil through West Africa to Europe.
• The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has said several hundred kilograms of cocaine go through the area each week.
• The Bijagos archipelago is said to be an ideal place for landing large quantities of cocaine, due to its geographical configuration, which makes it easy for boats to travel without detection.
• Apart from the drug trade, local fishermen say while they run at a loss when fishing, they can earn up to US$720 for each person trafficked northwards toward Europe.

The Rest @ Albuquerque News
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The Death of Ghanaians in The Gambia two years ago while in the hands of human smugglers sheds light on the Nexis between al Qaeda and organized criminals that traffic in people, drugs, arms, cash, and whatever else needs to be moved in Africa. Douglas Farah wrote more on the subject recently. What follows is an article about the investigation into their deaths.

-Shimron

ACCRA, Aug 24 (Reuters) - What started as a dream to build a better life in Europe, ended with gunshots, machetes and death at the hands of Gambian soldiers, according to a survivor.
With bullets flying overhead, Ghanaian Martin Kyere scrambled deep into Gambia's forests in the dead of night, the cries for mercy of his fellow migrants ringing in his ears.

Two years on, officials from Ghana are still investigating what happened in July 2005 when eight Ghanaians planning to make the perilous journey to Europe in fishing boats were killed.
Another 44 West Africans, mostly Ghanaians, disappeared and most are feared dead or languishing in Gambia's jails.


"The Gambian president must release the rest or say why they were killed," said Kyere, who has spoken with one person still in a Gambian jail and believes at least 15 others were killed.
A seven-member Ghanaian delegation travels to Gambia on Friday and their inquiry is due to be completed by September, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The visit follows a 2005 agreement between Gambia and Ghana for a joint investigation but human rights groups say Gambian President Yahya Jammeh's government -- accused of imprisoning political opponents and journalists without trial in the former British colony -- has scarcely cooperated.

Read the rest of Kyere's story.

The Rest @ Reuters Africa