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Gambia-Iran arms trial starts in Nigeria
Wednesday, 16 February 2011 20:54
JollofNews - The trial over the illegal shipment of deadly weapons to Gambia by suspected Iranian operatives has begun in Nigeria.
Both the presiding judge and a defense lawyer Wednesday reportedly questioned suspect statements allegedly obtained by the Nigerian secret police.
Iranian Azim Aghajani, described by prosecutors as a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and his suspected Nigerian accomplice, Ali Abbas Jega pleaded not guilty to three charges of importing 13 containers of weapons and falsely declaring them as building materials.
Justice Okechukwu Okeke flung one of the statements out into the audience, complaining that the date of a rights waiver came a day after the suspect allegedly confessed to bringing in shipping containers full of 107 mm artillery rockets, rifle rounds and other weapons, reported the Canadian Press.
"If you people want to mess up a case, mess it up in your office!" the judge irritatingly shouted at prosecutors. And he warned: "People should not use the court as a cover!"
The weapons, which were discovered last October fraudulently labeled as building material, has been the subject of high international interest as it constitutes a potential violation of UN sanctions against Iran. The matter is also the subject of intense diplomatic tension among Gambia, Iran and Senegal.
President Yahya Jammeh’s business empire, Kanilai Farms, was named in documents obtained by Nigerian investigators as the recipient of the weapons. Senegal feared the weapons could get into the hands of its MFDC rebels who have been linked to President Jammeh.
In December last year, Yahya Jammeh swore that he has nothing to do with the weapons; but Iran’s
Ambassador in Nigeria last week disputed that, shedding light on a frightening reality surrounding a “secret weapons agreement” between President Yahya Jammeh and the Iranians.Ambassador Hussein M. Abdullahi, said the weapons were meant for The Gambia, and that they were the third installment of weapons shipment that resulted from a secret deal between Yahya Jammeh and Iran.
“The agreement between Iran and Gambia was signed three years back and this consignment was based on that agreement, it was four batches of this consignment of which the one intercepted was the third one,” Ambassador Abdullahi told a press conference in Abuja, on Tuesday February 10, 2011.
He added: “Two have already been transshipped to its final destination but the third batch which was these thirteen containers was unexpectedly seized in Lagos.”
It remains a matter of serious concern among many Gambians as to why Gambia would need such weapons. This concern is goaded by the secrecy surrounding the agreement.
The trial in Nigeria continues Thursday.
Written by Kemo Cham
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