Sheikh Ali Abbas Othman Hassan, the man who allegedly facilitated the importation of the controversial arms consignment into Nigeria, has been in the custody of the State Security Service (SSS) since Tuesday last week, Daily Trust learnt in Abuja yesterday.
Sheikh Ali Abbas Othman Hassan, the man who allegedly facilitated the importation of the controversial arms consignment into Nigeria, has been in the custody of the State Security Service (SSS) since Tuesday last week, Daily Trust learnt in Abuja yesterday.
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In breaking the story of the men accused by Nigerian security agencies of having imported the controversial weapons consignment, Daily Trust’s Monday edition had said the Sheikh is in Iran.
Associates of the detained cleric also said yesterday that Sheikh Abbas’ house located at Karu, a suburb of the Federal Capital City of Abuja, was also ransacked by SSS agents on Monday, November 1, 2010.
His associates said contrary to the reports that Sheikh Abbas was still in Tehran, the cleric was whisked away by the SSS operatives in his office in Abuja on Tuesday. They also denied reports that he visits Nigeria regularly and delivers lecturers at various Muslim fora around the country, saying that the cleric is based in Nigeria because he left Tehran about five years ago. However, some Foreign Ministry officials disputed this account yesterday, telling Daily Trust that Sheikh Abbas is a frequent visitor to the Nigeria Embassy in Tehran in recent years.
Daily Trust also learnt that Sheikh Abbas is into carpets, visa, AC and property to make ends meet, and has actually introduced many Iranians to the Nigerian Embassy in Tehran over the years for the purpose of acquiring visas. His associates said as a visa facilitator for many years, Sheikh Abbas may not have known that the consignment being sent to Nigeria contained weapons.
Security sources in Abuja also said yesterday that it was the detained Sheikh who identified to the SSS the two businessmen said to be hiding in the Iranian Embassy, who were the men said to have actually imported the weapons. Diplomatic sources one of the fleeing Iranians, Mr. Azimi Agajany, obtained his visa from the Nigerian Embassy in Tehran by claiming that he was in a hurry to get to Nigeria to clear the consignment because it was already attracting demurrage. However, the second Iranian said to be hiding in the embassy, Sayeed Akbar Tahmaesebi, did not obtain his visa from the Nigerian Embassy in Tehran. He probably did so in a neighbouring country.
At the time of our going to press last night, the Iranian Embassy in Abuja was yet comment on the issue of the imported arms, apart from the terse statement it issued in Abuja on Monday, in which it said that any statement it made could only add to the confusion.
It will be recalled that on Tuesday last week, security agents in Lagos intercepted 13 containers that contained a variety of weapons, including rocket launchers and rockets. The containers, loaded in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas and routed through India, were brought to Apapa Port last July. The ship’s owners have since denied knowledge of the weapons inside the containers, saying they were delivered to it sealed. Israeli sources later told Associated Press that the weapons were from Iran and were meant for Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
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