FLASHBACK: In 2014, Ex-Militants Accused Onyema, Kuku Of Using Amnesty Funds To Set Up Air Peace

On Friday, the United States department of justice announced
that Allen Onyema, chief executive officer of Air Peace, one of the
leading airlines in Nigeria, had been indicted for money
laundering.

The US authorities, which have reportedly issued warrant for
Onyema’s arrest, said he used several fraudulent letters of credit
to American banks and initiated wire transfers to the tune of $44.9
million between 2010 and 2018.

The funds were reportedly transferred from the Nigerian bank
accounts of organisations founded by Onyema. They include
Foundation for Ethnic Harmony, International Center for
Non-Violence and Peace Development, All-Time Peace Media
Communications Limited, and Every Child Limited.

The Nigerian businessman has since denied the allegation, saying
he is ready to clear his name.

But as far back as 2014, Diepreye Dikibo, spokesman of the
ex-Militant Leaders Forum in the Niger Delta, alleged that Onyema
and Kingsley Kuku, former adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan
on Niger Delta Affairs, used funds meant for the amnesty programme
to float Air Peace.

Kuku was the coordinator of the project while Onyema was a
consultant.

In a statement, Dikibo alleged that Onyema’s Foundation for
Ethnic Harmony was one of the biggest beneficiaries of contracts
from presidential amnesty programme.

Below is the full statement from the spokesman of the
ex-militant leaders:

Initially, there were rumors that Air Peace, a new Airline whose
aircraft have recently been cited at Lagos Airports belong to the
First Lady Patience Faka Jonathan. That is all not true. We believe
at this moment, that those who churned out the story that the
Airlines belonged to the First Lady did so deliberately to hide the
truth and to mislead the people.

The truth did not take too long to come out. Business concerns
owned by Allen Onyema, a Lagos based businessman, colleague and
close confidant of the Special adviser to the President on Niger
Delta & Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme Kingsley Kuku
have not been confirmed as responsible for the Airlines and more to
that, Allen Onyema has now publicly confirmed that he is the
Chairman of the Air Peace Airlines.

Allen Onyeama’s business outfit handled the demobilization and
orientation of former Niger Delta militants which cost billions of
Naira to run. Allen Onyema has also been responsible for high
valued training contracts (running into billions) in the areas of
welding training as well as aviation training for the Presidential
Amnesty Programme in countries such as South Africa, The United
States and Dubai.

Kingsley Kuku, Allen Onyema with House of Reps Committee Members
on the Niger Delta visiting Proclad Academy, Dubai (Where Allen
Onyema’s business outfit ICNPD) is training Niger Delta youths in
Welding for millions of dollars. The appointment of Kingsley Kuku
as SA, Niger Delta & Chairman of the Amnesty Programme in
January 2011, was a huge blessing for Allen Onyema as it gives him
automatic access to a monster chunk of the more sixty billion naira
allocated to the amnesty programme yearly.

Two of Allen Onyeama’s NGOs which also double as business
outfits are known to be the biggest beneficiary of large value
Presidential Amnesty Contracts and we can confirm that none of
these outfits has any ties to the First Lady Patience Jonathan.

They include the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria (FEHN)
and the International Center for Non-violence & Peace
Development (ICNPD).

All the contracts awarded to Allen Onyema and his business run
into millions of dollars and are all grossly inflated and over
valued in a manner designed to short change the Amnesty Programme
and steal the billions of naira yearly allocated to the manage the
amnesty program me in the Niger Delta.

Sources close to Kingsley Kuku and Allen Onyeama say that
Kingsley Kuku’s fears that the President might not return in 2015
and the need to settle his future spurred Kuku and Onyeama to start
the Airlines on time rather than wait for the Presidential election
in 2015.

Over time, Ex-militant leaders in the Niger Delta had spoken up
about the rot in the Presidential Amnesty Programme but were not
listened to.

Rather, a band of lesser known and less credible leaders are
being patronized by the Amnesty Programme and paid to issue press
releases that threaten mayhem to Nigerians if President Jonathan is
not elected in 2015 as though it was their votes that brought him
to power in 2011.

As a group of committed leaders of the Niger Delta, we have over
time resolved to work with all Nigerians for the success of
President Jonathan in carrying out his responsibilities as a son of
the Niger Delta, President of Nigeria and a father to all
Nigerians. The journey to success in 2015 will be done in
collaboration with all well meaning Nigerians because we believe,
like many other Nigerians, that President Jonathan means well.

In the times past, we spoke about the false records of militants
that the Amnesty Office parades but we were ignored.

We exposed the faulty award of scholarships to so-called Niger
Deltans and we were again ignored even when we made it clear that
Kingsley Kuku had been awarding scholarships to girlfriends,
children of girlfriends and many others who had no business with
the Niger Delta and that scholarship award.

Novena University is one of the Universities used by the
Presidential amnesty Programme to train program recipients YET the
children of the owner of Novena University are also included in
Amnesty Programme.

A scion of a former political rival to President Jonathan, Timi
Alaibe, Kingsley Kuku was not the first choice for the position of
Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta & Chairman,
Presidential Amnesty Programme. The first choice candidate had been
Dr Felix Tuodolor, an Ijaw intellectual and highly cerebral first
President of the Ijaw Youth Council. Felix Tuodolor was upstaged
because there was a believe in certain Ijaw and Niger Delta
quarters that he will not ‘SHARE’ money for the boys.

Kingsley Kuku it is, who likes to brag that he has the Chief of
Army Staff in his pocket and that he settles the President’s wife
very regularly. Quite sordid.

In January 2013, It was Allen Onyema who paid tens of thousands
of dollars to the Obama campaign support group to enable Onyema and
Kingsley Kuku to enjoy a photo-shot with President Obama, Vice
President Joe Biden and their wives.

Kuku, Onyema with President Barrack
Obama and VP Joe Biden during the inauguration party for Obama’s
second term.

Clearly, It would therefore not be difficult to start an airline
with such heavy financial support.

Question is, will Kuku and his Air Peace Airlines recruit all
the Pilots they say that Amnesty has trained? Or will they allow
the poor fellows to go out there themselves and make bread for
their families?

Our collected call to the President is that Kingsley Kuku be
immediately removed as SA to the President on Niger Delta &
Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme. A reject a thief lording
over the collective destiny of the Niger Delta and we call on the
President to do the needful as a matter of urgency.

Kingsley Kuku’s loyalty is clearly not to the President but to
his pockets and to his former lords.

A word has always been good enough for the wise.

IF our call is not heeded, we will announce a withdrawal of our
support for President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in the 2015
elections. We have suffered enough.

Culled from TheCable

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