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