NIGERIAN diplomatic officials in the United States (U.S.) have met with the relevant authorities in the U.S. to facilitate the investigation of the 23-year-old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was alleged to be involved in a terrorist act.
A statement by acting Ambassador Baba Gana Wakili, the Charge d’Affaires of the Nigerian mission in Washington DC disclosed that Embassy had already sent Nigerian officials to the suspect on Saturday afternoon.
“Officers from the Embassy have already flown to Michigan to offer the mission’s cooperation to federal and local authorities,” the statement circulated at the weekend in the U.S. disclosed.
As a diplomatic practice, when a national from another country is arrested for any criminal wrongdoing, the accredited diplomats from the suspect’s nationality are allowed to have access to the individual and ensure that he is receiving fair treatment under the laws of the land-in this case the U.S.
The embassy statement added that it was “already in contact with relevant U.S. authorities over the incident to facilitate any preliminary investigations to get to the bottom of this unfortunate development.”
The Federal Government assured yesterday of the safety of the nation’s airports as it explained that the bomb suspect “sneaked” into his native country the day before his botched Christmas Day attempt, leaving his father shocked and regretful.
Information Minister, Prof. Dora Akunyili, told reporters yesterday that Mr. Abdulmutallab passed through Nigeria for only one day before attempting to blow up a Northwest flight headed for Detroit via Amsterdam.
“The man in question has been living outside of the country for a while,” she said. “He sneaked into Nigeria on December 24, 2009 and left the same day.”
She did not elaborate or say where Abdulmutallab entered Nigeria or where he had lived previously. Nigerian officials said on Saturday that they would launch their own investigation into the incident and cooperate with U.S. investigators. She said Abdulmutallab’s father, a top banker, had previously warned U.S. officials about his son’s activities.
“The father, Alhaji Umar Mutallab, who is a responsible and respected Nigerian, with a true Nigerian spirit, had earlier reported his concern about his son’s activities to relevant American authorities,” she said. “The father has already expressed deep shock and regret over his son’s actions.”
On Saturday, U.S. officials charged Abdulmutallab with trying to destroy the plane. A conviction on the charge could bring Abdulmutallab up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
One of Abdulmutallab’s former teachers said he was shocked to hear the news. He said yesterday that Abdulmutallab was so well-respected in high school that classmates nicknamed him “the Pope.”
But Abdulmutallab also showed signs of inflexibility, said Michael Rimmer, a Briton who taught history at the British International School in Lome, Togo.
He said that, in a 2001 discussion about the Taliban in Afghanistan, Abdulmutallab was the only one to defend their actions – something he attributed at the time to a desire to play the devil’s advocate.
He also noted that during a school trip to London, Abdulmutallab became upset when the teacher took students to a pub and said it was not right to be in a place where alcohol was being served.
Rimmer said that overall, his impression of Abdulmutallab had been an extremely positive one – noting in particular an incident in which the youngster chose to give £50 to an orphanage rather than spend it on souvenirs in London.
“At one stage, his nickname was ‘The Pope,'” Rimmer said. “In one way it’s totally unsuitable because he’s Moslem, but he did have this saintly aura.
“In all the time I taught him we never had cross words,” Rimmer said from London in a telephone interview.
“Somewhere along the line he must have met some sort of fanatics, and they must have turned his mind.”
Rimmer described the institution – an elite college preparatory school in Lome, Togo, attended by children of diplomats and wealthy Africans – as “lovely, lovely environment” where Christians often joined in Islamic feasts and some of the best Christmas carolers were Moslems.
Abdulmutallab showed no signs of intolerance toward other students, Rimmer said, explaining that “lots of his mates were Christians.”
The Briton noted that he had not seen or heard from his former pupil since 2003, when he was about 15, but added that other students had been in touch to express their shock.
And in the best tradition of U.S. judicial fairness, the presumption of innocence of a suspect, the U.S. government while charging Abdulmutallab, has warned that the criminal complaints made by the U.S. Justice Department against him, “contain mere allegations and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
This is seen as the first step by the U.S. judicial process and authorities in what is expected to be a criminal trial on terrorism charges against the young Nigerian who attempted to bomb a U.S. airliner while landing in Detroit, Michigan, on Friday afternoon.
For now, however, according to a statement from the U.S. Justice Department, Abdulmutallab has now been charged with: “Attempting to destroy Northwest Airlines aircraft.” He is also said to be co-operating with the investigators. In fact, a U.S. government stated that he himself owned up that he had on him an explosive device on the plane.
The charges were filed on Saturday afternoon in a Detroit, Michigan U.S. district court where the Nigerian suspect made his first public appearance.
A U.S. Justice Department statement issued on Saturday afternoon from Washington DC said the ” 23-year-old Nigerian man was charged in a federal criminal complaint today with attempting to destroy a Northwest Airlines aircraft on its final approach to Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Christmas Day, and with placing a destructive device on the aircraft.”
An affidavit was filed at the same in support of the U.S. government criminal complaint as investigations continued in the U.S. over the incident, where the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division have now started work on the prosecution.
Equally, the police work of investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. The involvement of this task force is a further indication that the Nigerian suspect would soon be slammed with terrorism charges. But he was initially charged on criminal counts just in order to maintain a legal and constitutional way to detain him ahead of trial.
According to the affidavit: “Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, a Nigerian national, boarded Northwest Flight 253 in Amsterdam, Netherlands on December 24, 2009 and had a device attached to his body. As the flight was approaching Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Abdulmutallab set off the device, which resulted in a fire and what appears to have been an explosion. Abdulmutallab was then subdued and restrained by the passengers and flight crew. The airplane landed shortly thereafter, and he was taken into custody by Customs and Border Patrol officers.”
The criminal complaint and affidavit also confirmed media reports that the FBI was conducting laboratory tests at its Virginia offices south of Washington DC on the material and device the suspect used on the flight.
It said: “A preliminary FBI analysis found that the device contained PETN, also known as pentaerythritol, a high explosive. Further analysis is ongoing.”
It was also disclosed that “in addition, FBI agents recovered what appear to be the remnants of the syringe from the vicinity of Abdulmutallab’s seat, believed to have been part of the device.
“This alleged attack on a U.S. airplane on Christmas Day shows that we must remain vigilant in the fight against terrorism at all times,” Attorney General Eric Holder said. “Had this alleged plot to destroy an airplane been successful, scores of innocent people would have been killed or injured. We will continue to investigate this matter vigorously, and we will use all measures available to our government to ensure that anyone responsible for this attempted attack is brought to justice.”
Abdulmutallab was immediately taken to the hospital because of the burns he sustained after detonating the device unsuccessfully and was rushed by some passengers and crew members on the flight, some of whom also suffered burns.
He is being treated and held at the University of Michigan Medical Center where he was taken to after the plane landed.
The criminal complaints further provided the following details: “Interviews of all of the passengers and crew of Flight 253 revealed that prior to the incident, Abdulmutallab went to the bathroom for approximately 20 minutes, according to the affidavit. Upon returning to his seat, Abdulmutallab stated that his stomach was upset, and he pulled a blanket over himself. Passengers then heard popping noises similar to firecrackers smelled an odour, and some observed Abdulmutallab’s pants (trouser) leg and the wall of the airplane on fire. Passengers and crew then subdued Abdulmutallab and used blankets and fire extinguishers to put out the flames. Passengers reported that Abdulmutallab was calm and lucid throughout. One flight attendant asked him what he had in his pocket, and he replied ‘explosive device.”
The statement of the embassy was followed by a torrent of condemnation by U.S.-based Nigerians some of who are concerned that they would be on the receiving end of the suspect’s action on Christmas day.
A U.S.-based Nigerian professor in Michigan State where the incident happened and where the suspect would eventually be tried, Dr. Steve Nwabuzor, said in a statement at the weekend that “for this to happen on a plane coming to the Metropolitan Airport in Detroit, Michigan sends a personal message to one. It will further subject some of us Nigerian-Americans, who live in Michigan and use the airport on a regulars basis, to stricter search and questioning.”
According to him, this is “another sad chapter in the image history of Nigeria. This incident definitely will subject Nigerians to suspicion when boarding airplanes worldwide. When shall these perverts understand that their actions impact us all? The black eye inflicted on us by this latest action would take a long time to heal.”
The statement added: “We are grateful and thankful to God that no one was hurt. We applaud the courage and heroism of some of the passengers who put their lives in danger in subduing the alleged terrorist. Nigerians are peaceful, law abiding and friendly people.”
Finally, the U.S. Zumunta group in a statement signed by Lami Dogonyaro also called “on those concerned, especially the Federal Government of Nigeria, to cooperate fully with authorities to find the cause(s) and people responsible for this despicable act. Nigerians in the U.S. and elsewhere stand ready to do their part in ensuring the safety of lives and property at all times. We hope that this heinous act should not be used as a blanket to judge honourable and hardworking Nigerians.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said that the country does not have screening machines for the detection of high calibre powdery explosives at Nigeria airports.
Director General of NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren, told journalists that powdery substances were very difficult to detect but “we are about to acquire the equipment for our airports.”
On the security at Nigerian airports and the alleged relegation of local airports security, Demuren, said it was the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) that determines the security of an airport, adding that security at local airports had not been relegated as the agency applied the standard rules at the airports in the country.
Also, travellers flying to the U.S. from Nigeria face tightened security including extra baggage checks and restrictions on their movement while on board planes.
An airline source who spoke to The Guardian at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos said the restrictions were part of the US government’s response to Friday’s terror scare on a flight bound for Detroit.
The airline official who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media, stated that the new requirement was for passengers to stay in their seats without any personal items including blankets, pillows, laptops or access to cabin baggage for the final hour before landing.
Besides all airliners are mandated to conduct a physical inspection of all bags before departure, requiring them to be opened.
The new rules have been put in place for four days but will be re-assessed by U.S. authorities before they expire tomorrow.
The changes mean it will take longer than normal for passengers to pass security checks before boarding, prompting airlines to urge passengers to allow sufficient time for check in.
Besides, security personnel working at the country’s borders and airports have stepped up security by using sophisticated devices to check all goods coming into the country with a view to detecting explosives and other dangerous weapons.
The Guardian learnt at the weekend that the Nigerian Police and other paramilitary organisations detailed to monitor the country’s land routes and airports had a big task to ensure that no explosion occurs in any part of the country again.
The arrangement followed the recent explosion that rocked part of the building of a television station in Lagos last week.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered a review of air security measures after the Nigerian man allegedly tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic jet on Christmas day.
Spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president wanted to know how a man carrying dangerous substance such as PETN managed to board a flight in Amsterdam.
He said the system of watch-lists would also be examined after it emerged the man was listed and known to officials.
Gibbs told ABC News that the review would examine, firstly, the system of watch-lists used by government agencies, which includes three lists which become progressively shorter as risk increases.
The watch-lists include some 550,000 names on it, a “selectee” list with 18,000 people within the higher-risk category, and a “no-fly” list with 4,000 names of people who are not permitted to board planes.
Abdulmutallab was placed on the lowest-risk list by U.S. authorities in November 2009, after his father alerted authorities about the behaviour of his son.
Gibbs said the number of people on the watch-list was “a huge number.
“The president has asked that a review be undertaken to ensure that any information gets to where it needs to go, to the people making the decisions. The president wants to review some of these procedures and see if they need to be updated,” he said.