NIGERIA: MOD DANJUMA ACCUSES FRENCH OF ARMING

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 003036 SIPDIS LONDON FOR C. GURNEY -- PASS TO A/S KANSTEINER AND AMB. JETER E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/12 TAGS: PBTS MOPS PGOV PREL PREF EPET NI CM SUBJECT: NIGERIA: MOD DANJUMA ACCUSES FRENCH OF ARMING CAMEROON REF: ABUJA 02933 CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR HOWARD F. JETER; REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) During a private moment at the October 30 Australian National Day, I asked Minister of Defense T.Y. Danjuma if he could confirm reports of a GON military build-up in response to the ICJ decision on the Bakassi. Danjuma did not deny the reports as I thought he would; rather he said that Nigeria's recent military hardware acquisitions were in response to arming of Cameroon by France. This clandestine French program had been going on for 18 months, according to Danjuma. The arms supplied by France, the Minister said, included aircraft, amphibious crafts, and munitions. ¶2. (C) When I reported that the French had denied these allegations, Danjuma said that Nigeria was certain of its information because the GON had intelligence agents in Cameroon who gave eye witness accounts of the arms transfers. Moreover, these agents had also reported the presence of French military advisors in Cameroon who were working side- by-side with the Cameroonian military and training them on the use of the new equipment. ¶3. (C) COMMENT: Danjuma has a fixation on the French, and his certainty of French machinations is unshakable. Whether real or imagined, Danjuma's perception, likely shared by other senior GON officials, is helping to drive current GON military acquisitions and policy. ANDREWS