Iranian Arms Capured in Nigeria Intended for The Gambia

According to Vanguard Newspaper, A Nigerian, Alli Abass Jega, standing trial alongside Azim Aghajani, an Iranian, before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, for arms importation yesterday, told the court that he (Jega) was misled by Aghajani to use his name and office address to bring in the seized consignments of arms and ammunition.

Jega and Aghajani are both facing a fresh four-count charge for alleged illegal importation, without licence, of 13 container loads of firearms and ammunition into Nigeria from Iran in contravention of Section 1 (14) of the Firearms Act, Cap MI7, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.

During a cross-examination, yesterday, the prosecution witness, Mr. Charles Okpekor, who was cross-examined by the defence counsel, said Jega had claimed ignorance of the content of the13 container loads of arms and ammunition imported into the country from Iran last October.Part of Jega statement, read:

• “they (Masud and Aghajani) asked me to allow them used my name and the address to send the goods in transit to Nigeria, before being cleared for The Gambia.
• Masud and Aghajani thus deceived me into using my name and office address to send weapons instead of building materials they dubiously mentioned to me.”
• Further hearing in the matter was adjourned till March 21 and 22 for continuation of trial.

The Rest @ Forya Online

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

The Charges Against the Iran Arms Traffickers in Nigeria

On 17 July 2010, Nigerian officials captured 13 containers of arms marked as "glass and straw" in Lagos, Nigeria; the weapons came from Iran, a well known France-based Quds front company, and were likely aimed for the Nigerian Taliban in Northern Nigeria. Iran has intervened at the high levels, including sending visitors to Nigeria. Azim Aghajani, commander of Quds in Africa was originally arrested, but was released when Iranian Officials Visited Nigeria.
The UN is conducting its own investigation.

What follows are the charges for the remaining two people in captivity. It appears one of the detainees has written a statement.

-Shimron


Lagos (WorldStage Newsonline)-- Justice Okrchukwu Okeke of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday admitted in evidence a state by one of the two persons, Alli Abass, Jega been trial by the Federal Government for allegedly importing thirteen container loads of firearms in tow the country from Iran.

According to the judge the accused person made the statement to the State Security Service (SSS) voluntarily.

The two men, an Iranian, Azm Aghajani and Jega, a Nigerian clearing agent were arrested last year after the arms were discovered at a port in Lagos.

It will be recalled that when the prosecuting counsel, Mrs. Olufemi Fatunde attempted to tender the document as exhibit the Thursday, Jega’s lawyer, Aliyu Musa Yawuri objected on the ground that the document sought to be tendered was not admissible in law.

The development forced the presiding judge, Justice Okechukwu Okeke to adjourn the case to Friday for ruling on the admissibility of the document.

Ruling on the objection, Justice Okeke held that the document was admissible in law because the statement was voluntarily made by the second accused.

According to Justice Okeke; “it would have been a different matter if not voluntarily made, and his lawyer, Yawuri, did not deny that his client made the statement.”

Also during the proceedings Aghajani’s lawyer, Chris Uche (SAN) on Friday accused the SSS and the lawyers handling the prosecution of frustrating his efforts to defend his clients adequately by refusing to make available to him, many of the documents he intends to use in defending his client, despite repeated demands.

He stated that one of such documents was a computer print-out of an e-mail message sent to Aghajani, by Jega.

Uche also accused the SSS of denying him access to his client, stressing that this constituted another dimension of frustration.

But an attempt by Uche to move a bail application for his client was turned down by the judge, who insisted that the matter was slated for the conclusion of the prosecution’s witness testimony.

The court, however, adjourned till March 7 for hearing of bail applications.
According to the three-count charge: the accused were in

• count one accused of importing thirteen container loads of firearms, which was prohibited under Part 1 of the Schedule to the Firearms Act, Cap F.28, laws of the Federation, 2004.
  
• count two, the accused persons were alleged to have imported the firearms without licence contrary to Section 18 of the Firearms Act, Cap F.28, laws of the Federation, 2004 and punishable under Section 27 of the same Act.

• count three, the accused were said to have recklessly made a false declaration of the firearms as glass wool and pallets of stone on the Original Bill of Lading. The offence, according to the charge, is contrary to Section 161 (1) (a) of the Customs and Excise Management Act, Cap C45, laws of the Federation, 2004.

The crime was allegedly committed on July 17, 2010.

The Rest @ World Stage

Iran Nigeria Arms Traffickers Aquitted, Rearrested

ABUJA - An Abuja Magistrate’s Court yesterday discharged and acquitted Aliyu Wamakko and Mohammed Umar who were accused of importing arms from Iran into Nigeria.

The accused, who are clearing and forwarding agents, were accused of using a clearing agency, Jedo Clearing and Forwarding, to ship the arms into the country in 2010.

The Magistrate, Hafsat Soso also struck out the suit against two other accused in the suit, Abbas Usman and one Iranian, Azim Aghajani on the request of the prosecutor, Mr. Moses Idakwo, that the case be re-assigned to a Federal High Court.

Usman and Aghajani, who were earlier discharged by the Magistrate’s court, were re-arrested and taken back to custody, pending their prosecution at the higher court.

The four persons were arrested and charged to court in October 2010 for illegal importation of arms and ammunition to Nigeria.

Counsel to the second accused who was discharged, Mr. Chuma Ajaegbu, described the case as a fair trial, saying that his client was acquitted due to lack of evidence and involvement in the shipment.

The UN inspection team, which visited the country last week, commended Nigeria for the manner by which it handled the issue and recommended it as a model to other West African nations.

The Rest @ Nigerian Observer News

Ali Akbar Tabatabaei Commander of Iran's Quds in Africa

Here's the backstory to some of the recent and not-so-recent stories at Atlas (the media continues to ignore Islamic genocide and religious cleansing of non-Muslims) by Muslim hordes slaughtering Christians in Nigeria (scroll and click on links). Just this past Christmas, five bombs went off in the Nigerian city of Jos as residents were celebrating Christmas Eve, leaving 31 dead, and hundreds wounded.

A trial due to open in Nigeria at the end of the month is set to disclose embarrassing details of an extensive arms smuggling operation run by Iran's Revolutionary Guards to supply guerrillas in West Africa.

A key defendant in the trial, which is due to start in Abuja on January 31, is Azim Aghajani, an Iranian national who has been identified by intelligence officials as a senior officer serving in the Qods Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Aghajani faces charges relating to the seizure of a cargo of weapons hidden in 13 shipping containers at the Nigerian port of Apapa, in Lagos, in October.

The weapons, which included rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and assault rifles, had been concealed in a cargo of construction materials and were discovered following a tip-off by the CIA to Nigerian security officials.

Nigerian officials claim the containers were dispatched by the Qods Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the unit responsible for supporting overseas Islamist militant groups.

The Iranians used a French based shipping group to transport the weapons cargo, which was intended for distribution among a number of Islamist militias in Nigeria and other rebel groups in West Africa.

They included the "Hisbah" Islamist militia, which is seeking to impose Sharia law in the north Nigerian province of Kano, and rebel groups fighting for control of Nigeria's lucratic oil revenues in the Nile Delta. Nigerian officials claim some of the weapons were also destined for rebel groups based in Senegal and Gambia.

"This was a sophisticated operation undertaken by Iran's Revolutionary Guards to destabilise a number of governments in West Africa," said a Western security official who has been closely involved in the case. "It is a major diplomatic embarrassment for Tehran at a time when Iran claims it seeks to improve relations with countries in the region."

Two Iranian citizens claiming to be businessmen sought refuge in the Iranian embassy immediately following the seizure of the weapons, sparking a tense diplomatic stand-off between Iran and Nigeria.

Intelligence officials in Nigeria established that the two Iranians were senior officers serving in the Qods Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, who were named as Azim Aghajani and Ali Akbar Tabatabaei, who is described as the commander of Qods Force operations in Africa.

• Iran made secret representations to the Nigerian government to allow the arms shipment to be returned to Iran, together with the two Revolutionary Guards officers.
• When the Nigerians refused Manoucher Mottaki, who was then serving as Iran's Foreign Minister, made an emergency visit to Abuja in November during which he persuaded Nigerian officials to release Tabatabaei, who was allowed to fly back to Tehran on the Foreign Minister's private jet.

Tabatabaei is now understood to have been redeployed to Venezuela to oversee Iran's intelligence operations in Latin America.

But the Nigerian authorities insisted that Aghajani must remain in Abuja and face trial on arms smuggling charges.

Prosecution officials predict all the details relating to Iran's involvement in the arms shipment will be revealed during the trial of Aghajani, who was earlier this week granted bail by the trial judge until the end of the month.

Read the rest here. @ Atlas Shrugs

Iranian Arms Courrier Azim Aghajani gets Bail in Nigeria

court in Nigeria has granted bail to an Iranian man charged with arms trafficking after an illegal shipment of weapons was intercepted in October.
court in Nigeria has granted bail to an Iranian man charged with arms trafficking after an illegal shipment of weapons was intercepted in October.
Judge Ishaq Bello of the high court in the capital, Abuja, set the amount at 20m naira ($131,150; £84,940).
Azim Aghajani, identified by court documents as a Tehran-based businessman and member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, says he is not guilty.
Three Nigerians have also been charged in connection with the incident.
The weapons, which included rockets, shells, mortars, grenades and ammunition hidden among building materials, were found on a ship docked at seaport of Apapa, in Lagos.

The Rest @ InDepth Africa

UN sending Panel to Nigeria to Investigate Iranian Arms Dealer Azim Aghajani

THE United Nations is sending an eight-man team to Nigeria in the third week of January over the arms shipment intercepted from Iran, a senior official has said.

The UN panel of experts on Iran is expected in the country on January 18 for a three-day working visit, the official told reporters on the condition of anonymity.

The panel’s earlier request to visit Nigeria this month was not cleared from Abuja due to administrative reasons, the official said.

Yesterday, Iranian businessman Azim Aghajani, who is facing trial along with three Nigerians over the importation of the illegal arms into Apapa port in Lagos, was granted bail by an Abuja High Court.

The Nigerians on trial with him are Ali Abbas Jega, Aliyu O. Wamako and Muhammed Tukur Umar.

They were arraigned before a Magistrate’s Court which remanded them in SSS custody.
The Iranian,　on Dec 16, approached the court through his lawyer, Chris Uche (SAN), for bail, relying on sections 341(2) and (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code; and Section 35 (4) 39 of 1999 Constitution.

He also prayed that the bail be sustained, pending his trial by the court.
Granting the bail application, Justice Ishaq Bello held that since the prosecution failed to file a counter affidavit to the application, there was no basis denying the accused bail.

He ordered him to produce two sureties in the sum of N20 million each.
The sureties must be citizens of Iran and officials of the embassy.

The eight-man UN panel was appointed last month by the UN Secretary-General to monitor states’ implementation of the sanctions against Iran.
Nigeria’s Maj-Gen. Ishola Williams is a member of the panel, which is coordinated by Salome Zourabichvili of France.

Other members of the panel expected to visit Nigeria are Jonathan Brewer from the UK, Kenichiro Matsubayashi from Japan and Jacqueline W. Shire from the United States.
Also on the team are; Elena Vodopolova from Russian, Christof Wegner from Germany and Wenlei Xu of China.

The panel while in Nigeria will meet with officials of some key government agencies involved in the investigation.
They will also inspect the seized cache of arms.
Nigeria reported Iran to the UN in November after security agents intercepted weapons hidden among building materials on a ship docked in Lagos in October.
Four persons, including one Iranian, were arrested and charged to court over the seized weapons.
The weapons include assorted calibers of mortars and 107 mm rocket launchers, designed to attack static targets and used by armies to support infantry units.

The Rest @ The Nation

Sengal Severs Relations with Iran over Arms Smuggling

Senegal is "disatisfied" with Iran's answers to why they allowed a "private" Iranian company to ship Arms apparently aimed for Senegal (stopped by customs in Nigeria).


-Shimron Issachar

Senegal has recalled its ambassador to Iran, saying that Tehran had failed to provide a "satisfactory" explanation for an arms shipment seized in Nigeria.

The weapons were found hidden among building materials on a ship docked in Lagos in October.
An Iranian man and three Nigerians have been accused of attempting to import the arms and send them to The Gambia, which cut ties with Iran last month.

But there has been speculation that they were destined for south Senegal.
Despite a peace deal, a low-level separatist rebellion simmers in Casamance, a region cut off from the rest of Senegal by The Gambia.

The Iranian government has said only that the shipment belonged to a private company and was being sent to a "West African country".

"True to the need for peace and security which should guide ties between states, and deeming not satisfactory the explanations provided by the Iranian side in this affair, Senegal has decided to recall its ambassador to Iran for consultations as of today," the foreign ministry said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Monouchehr Mottaki was sacked on Monday while on an official trip to Senegal. No reasons were given.

Nigeria charges Iranian over arms 25 NOVEMBER 2010, AFRICA

The Rest @ The BBC

Iran follows Arms Shipments with Drugs to Nigeria

Nigerian officials say they have seized heroin worth nearly $10m (£6.25m), concealed in engine parts shipped from Iran.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said agents made the seizure at Apapa seaport in Lagos.

The haul comes just days after Nigeria reported Tehran to the UN Security Council over an illegal arms shipment from Iran that was intercepted.

West African ports are key transit hubs for drugs heading to Western markets.

NDLEA spokesman Mitchell Ofoyeju said the agency had received "strong intelligence" from "foreign collaborators" four months ago, so it had been monitoring the consignment before it arrived in Nigeria.

"The NDLEA... decided to get a welder to cut open the engine parts and behold, we found hidden inside them 130kg (20 stone) of heroin," said Mr Ofoyeju.

A customs spokesman told AFP the drugs were brought into Nigeria aboard a foreign vessel, the MV Montenegro.

Three Nigerians have been arrested in connection with the drugs shipment.

In October, Nigerian security forces found a shipment of weapons at the same port.

Rocket launchers, grenades, explosives and other weapons were found in containers labelled as building materials shipped from Iran.

Iran said the weapons were the subject of a "misunderstanding", which had been cleared up.

The Rest @ the BBC

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

Iran Sends Two Ships to be Near Somali Pirate Fighters

09-07-06 18:46:39

TEHRAN, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Iran has sent two more warships to the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden to protect merchant vessels, Iran's English-language satellite channel Press TV reported Monday.

Iran's Deputy Naval Commander Gholam-Reza Khadem was quoted as saying on Monday that the dispatched warships were set to replace aging vessels and protect Iranian merchant containers and oil tankers from Somali pirates.

"Pirates have stepped up attacks on Iranian merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden, so we have decided to send two more warships to patrol the area and help keep everything under control," Khadem said.

He said Iran's decision to join the international fight against piracy in the key shipping-lanes off the coast of Somalia has been "rather positive."

• In November last year, Somalian pirates hijacked a Hong Kong cargo ship loaded with 36,000 tons of wheat, which was chartered by an Iranian company, in the Gulf of Aden near the coast of Yemen.
• In December, an Iranian warship was sent to the Gulf of Aden in Somalia waters on a mission to protect Iranian ships and fight pirates.
• In late June, Iran's navy prevented an attempt to hijack an Iranian oil tanker by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, the official IRNA news agency reported.
• According to a report by the Public Relations Department of Iran's Navy Force, pirates in the Gulf of Aden had planned to hijack an Iranian oil tanker named "Hadi," but Iranian warship arrived in the scene on time to rescue it, IRNA said.
• Each year about 20,000 vessels pass through the Gulf of Aden, which links Indian Ocean with Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea.
  

Editor: Xiong Tong

The Rest @ China View (State owned MEdia)

Kenya Agrees to Buy Iranian Oil on Credit

The Deal alegedly calls for 90 day payment delays. This will place Kenya of an ongoing line of credit debt to Iran.

-Shimron Issachr


Iran will reportedly supply Kenya with 4 mm tons of oil annually as a part of range of deals signed in February between the two states.

The Kenyan government rejected the allegations that Iran offered its crude oil to Kenya at 10 % below the market price. It says Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, has agreed to offer Kenya a 90-day credit period to pay its debt to Tehran.

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad visited east Africa's largest economy on February 25 and signed a range of economic agreements with his Kenyan counterpart Mwai Kibaki.

The Iranian president said it was of great importance for Tehran to promote political and economic ties with Kenya.

Iran currently exports industrial oil, carpets and chemicals to Kenya and imports tea.

Kenya plans to add beef and fish products to its list of exports to Iran.

Analysts believe the new agreements could increase the volume of Iran-Kenya trade to $ 500 mm by the end of next year.

Iran is helping Kenya on several major energy and infrastructure projects.

The two countries have also agreed to establish direct flights between Nairobi and Tehran, to set up a shipping line between the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and the Kenyan port of Mombasa and to build an Iranian trade centre in Nairobi.

The Rest @ WorldNews

Famoval of Iran to Build Cars in Algeria

Famoval (Fabrication & Montage de Vehicules Industriels d’Algerie), a firm headed by Mohamed Rahmoune, has teamed up with Iran’s Saipa to build a car Assembly Line in Algeria...

The Rest @ Maghareb Confidential