LAGOS—The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Limited (NAHCO) yesterday dismissed reports that its General Manager, Chief A.G. Musa Agboneni, was arrested and barred from travelling overseas over the seized contraband textiles allegedly released to the owners by some Customs officers.
NAHCO’s Head of Corporate Affairs Research and Development, Becky Igyuse, said in a statement yesterday that the general manager was neither arrested nor detained as a result of the theft.
The statement clarified: “We wish to state that at no time was the general manager of NAHCO arrested or detained or stopped from travelling.
“The fact of the matter is that although he was duty bound to travel to Paris for a board meeting on Sunday, June 27, 2004, by Saturady evening, he had already decided not to travel, but stay back and handle the raging issue.
“Consequently, he did not show up at the airport. We are, therefore, not aware of any move to restrain him from travelling.” The statement said NAHCO was committed to assist the Customs in getting to the roots of the matter, but frowned at the Customs’ attempt to rubbish the agency’s image by the development.
The agency noted that investigations into the fraud was yielding results, as it was now becoming clear that the said cargo was neither missing nor stolen, but fraudulently released by some bad eggs in the Customs with probable connivance of some equally bad eggs at its warehouse.
The statement added: “ First and foremost, we never categorically accepted culpability in the alleged missing cargo. At the discovery of the incidence, NAHCO was under pressure to either produce the cargo or risk closure of her warehouse.
“At that instance, the General Manager of the company, Chief A.G. Musa Agboneni had to plead for time to look into the matter and report back. He was also of the opinion that if the said cargo had short landed as it was initially alleged, then the cargo manager ought to have physically examined the cargo before signing for all that landed.
“If he did not do that, then he must have erred. But investigations have shown that the cargo did not short land. Therefore, that opinion does not hold water any longer.”
NAHCO noted that if the Customs officers involved in the fraud had not hidden the truth from their bosses, it (Customs) would not have embarked on what it described as “wild goose chase” at the initial stage.
