Seized arms belong to French mission in Chad —Russia

 

Russia has said that the arms and ammunition being conveyed by a plane that was seized at the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, on Saturday belonged to the French peace-keeping mission in Chad.

The Russian Embassy in Abuja, which said this on its Twitter handle on Sunday, explained that the seized aircraft had been chartered to transport the military equipment and that the crew members were not Russians.

The embassy also denied that the plane was Russian.

The Antonov Cargo Aircraft, carrying some attack helicopters and containers and arms and ammunition, was impounded by security personnel at the Kano airport on Saturday.

The embassy said it was taking all measures to ensure the departure of theplane with its military cargo.

The series of tweets from the embassy were in Russian but were translated to English.

It read, “Military equipment on board aircraft in Kano en route from the Central African Republic in Chad, allegedly owned by the French peacekeeping mission.

“The plane was chartered by the French peacekeeping mission in Chad and transporting its property.

“The Embassy is taking all measures to ensure the departure of the plane with the French military equipment on board.”

A senior security source said on Sunday that the Federal Government investigation into the mystery cargo plane would not be affected by the denial of the Russian government that the plane did not emanate from the country.

The source said that the military would ensure that the investigation into the impounded plane, its cargo and crew, was thoroughly carried out because of the diplomatic implications of the issue.

The source said, “We must ascertain where the plane took off from, its destination, its crew, why it landed in Nigeria, what it was carrying and why it was carrying what it was carrying.

“All these are things we need to know before we come out with a final statement to give to Nigerians on this sensitive issue.

“There must be a holistic investigation into the issue because it has diplomatic implications just like our incident in South Africa so we have to be careful in the investigation.”

Meanwhile, the Defence authorities have said in a statement that Nigerians would be briefed after the conclusion of the investigation into the issue.

The Deputy Director, Defence Information, Group Captain W.W. Maigida, in a statement on Sunday, said that the military had already commenced investigation into the impounded aircraft.

“An Antonov Cargo Aircraft carrying some military hardware was arrested at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in the early hours of Saturday, December 6, 2014.

“Investigation is ongoing to determine the content and origin of the aircraft. Further details would be made as soon as the investigation is completed,” Maigida said

The Foreign Affairs ministry could not be reached for comment on Sunday, as its spokesman, Ahmedu Ogbole-Ode, did not respond to calls to his phone.

Meanwhile, France has admitted ownership of the seized cargo plane.

It said that the flight was covered by a diplomatic clearance given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja, noting that the Autonov 124 Russian commercial plane was forced to land at the Kano airport because of dense air traffic at Ndjamena airport, Chad.