Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04ABUJA2144
2004-12-28 15:08:00
SECRET
Embassy Abuja
Cable title:  

SOUCRE CLAIMS "SABOTAGE CAMPAIGN" MAY BE IN THE

Tags:  PGOV PINR PREL ASEC NI 
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281508Z Dec 04
S E C R E T ABUJA 002144 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2014
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL ASEC NI
SUBJECT: SOUCRE CLAIMS "SABOTAGE CAMPAIGN" MAY BE IN THE
WORKS


Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES THOMAS P. FUREY. REASONS 1.5 b, c, and
d.

S E C R E T ABUJA 002144

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2014
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL ASEC NI
SUBJECT: SOUCRE CLAIMS "SABOTAGE CAMPAIGN" MAY BE IN THE
WORKS


Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES THOMAS P. FUREY. REASONS 1.5 b, c, and
d.


1. (S) Poloff met with a contact on December 23 to discuss
the recent Appeals Court decision and other related topics.
The source, Aliyu Adamu Jimeta, claimed that "a group" of
political activists had considered sabotaging government
infrastructure during the COJA games and the CHOGM meeting in
Abuja in late 2003. Those plans had been shelved, he said.
However, he commented that the same group of between five and
ten individuals were "thinking that the time may be ripe to
commence." The example he gave was the bombing of a wing of
Lagos' Murtala Mohammed International Airport. He stated
that the device would be "small enough to limit damage, but
should scare travelers away from Nigeria."


2. (S) Poloff commented that "this is not the tactic" he
would choose and changed the subject.


3. (S) Comment: Poloff has known Jimeta for over two years
as a political operative from Adamawa state, home of the
current Vice President Atiku Abubakar. He has never raised
this topic previously and Poloff has had reason to question
his motivation and speculated whether he could be working for
the Nigerian government. His comments raise one of two
concerns. The first possibility is that a group of
dissidents, frustrated with the continuing corruption and the
lack of resolution of the rigged 2003 elections, is ready to
attack the Obasanjo regime. A campaign of this type was
carried out in 1995-1998 during the Abacha regime. At that
time, Embassy had doubts as to whether it was truly staged by
dissidents intent on forcing out Abacha or if the regime was
managing the "attacks" to bolster internal support for their
unpopular government.


4. (S) Comment, cont.: The second possibility is that the
increasing inability of the Obasanjo regime to maintain
control of Nigeria's internal security and manage its image
abroad is forcing Obasanjo to look for enemies outside in an
effort to shift the blame for his unpopularity. Setting up
and expelling a U.S. diplomat could, in the GON analysis,
create some sympathy for an Obasanjo increasingly convinced
of his own importance as the "saviour of Nigeria."
FUREY