Chad-bound Russian aircraft detained at the Aminu Kano Airport in
Kano.
Premium Times reports that the announcement came hours after the
Nigerian government said it was not in a hurry to release the
aircraft.
PR Nigeria, an agency that circulates press statements for Nigerian
security agencies, had quoted an unnamed top security official as
telling it that "Nigeria has no reason to release the aircraft and its
cargo until investigation is concluded".
But the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Adesola Amosu, said Monday
afternoon that the government had approved the release of the
aircraft, the News Agency of Nigeria is reporting.
The government announced the release of the aircraft shortly after the
manifest which listed the entire cargo on the plane was obtained.
According to the document, the Antonov Cargo plane, AN 124100RA82038,
with flight number, TTF 9042 from Bangui, Central, African Republic to
Ndjamena, Chad, contained a list of 24 military hardware including a
vehicle, helicopters and blades.
A breakdown of the items are a steel box weighing 2, 600 kilograms,
six bulks of 597 kilograms, two pallets 10, 000 lbs of 4, 550
kilograms with air waybill number 88823400967 all destined for
Ndjamena. It is not clear what the steel box contains.
There are also two helicopter Gazelle, weighing, 2, 746 kg, destined
for Istres, a community in Southern France.
Others are two blades (7.31m) of 960 kg, two blades (4.83m) of 680 kg,
six AKN of 720kg, one vehicle of 4, 050kg and two pallets (10, 000
lbs) of 2800kg, all headed for Istres.
France had said the plane was conveying equipment, owned by its
peacekeeping force, from Bangui (Central African Republic) to Ndjamena
(Chad), and had diplomatic cover to make a stop-over in Nigeria.
The French Ambassador to Nigeria, Jacques Champagne de Labriolle, had
said Sunday that Nigerian authorities had agreed to let the aircraft
go.
"Due to the nationality of the aircraft, and the nature of the cargo,
local airport Nigerian authorities in Kano have decided to check the
flight plan, the clearance and the cargo manifest before authorizing
the plane to leave," the ambassador said in statement through which he
admitted his country's ownership of the cargo aboard the aircraft.
"Official information has been supplied by the French Embassy in
Nigeria. The Nigerian federal and airport authorities, being satisfied
with the documents and the genuine character of the flight, have
announced that the plane will be authorized to pursue its flight to
Ndjamena."
Russia had initially said through its embassy in Nigeria on Saturday
night that the plane wasn't Russian and that it had no link with that
country.
But in another statement on Sunday afternoon, the embassy said the
plane is indeed a Russian one hired by the French government to convey
military hardware for its peacekeeping force in the Central African
Republic.
The Defence Headquarters had on Saturday said the aircraft, laden with
military hardware, was arrested at the Mallam Aminu Kano International
Airport in Kano.
While the French ambassador to Nigeria, Jacques Champagne de
Labriolle, has admitted that his country chattered the Russian
aircraft to help it convey some military hardware from Bangui in the
Central African Republic to N'djamena, Chad, he denied there were arms
and ammunition aboard the plane.Security operatives at the Kano
Airport had seized the plane when it landed at the facility at about
2a.m. Saturday due to technical problems.
Crew members of the airplane were immediately detained while
investigations continued, officials said.
Security was then beefed up at the airport in order to ensure proper
investigation," an official at the airport said.
This is the third time since 2009 that planes loaded with arms would
be arrested in Kano, our correspondent says.
The detained planes were later released after investigations.
The destination of the latest aircraft has however raised concerns
amid increasing worries in Nigeria over Chad's alleged role in the
Boko Haram insurgency plaguing Nigeria's northeast.
It would be recalled that the former Governor of Borno State, Ali Modu
Sheriff, visited and inspected the plane late Saturday night as well
as lobbied for the release of the plane.
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