NIGERIA - GUINEA-BISSAU: FONMIN DISCUSSES ECOWAS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000418

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W, INR/AA
BAGHDAD FOR DMCCULLOUGH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2019
TAGS: PREL PU NI ECOWAS
SUBJECT: NIGERIA - GUINEA-BISSAU: FONMIN DISCUSSES ECOWAS
ASSESSMENT TRIP TO BISSAU

Classified By: Ambassador Robin R. Sanders for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) During the course of Ambassador's discussions with
Nigerian Foreign Minister Maduekwe on AMISOM March 8, he
debriefed her on his recent assessment trip to Guinea-Bissau
(GB) representing President Yar'Adua as Chairman of ECOWAS.
Maduekwe returned from GB on March 6, and departed again the
afternoon of March 10 for a second mission to the troubled
nation. Overall the Nigerian FonMin made the following
points on the situation on the ground and the prelude to the
assassination of GB President Vieira.


2. (C) Maduekwe told the Ambassador that back in December
2008 at the ECOWAS Summit, where Nigeria assumed the ECOWAS
chairmanship, the late GB president told Yar'Adua that he
feared for his life. Vieira reportedly told the GON Head of
State that he was worried that the late GB Chief of Defense
Staff (CDS) would try to assassinate him. He reportedly said
that his negative relationship with his CDS (which was common
knowledge) had deteriorated to such a point over the
country's security situation, particularly on drug
trafficking, that he feared for his life. Maduekwe claims
that Vieira asked the GON for assistance with his personal
protection, which Nigeria was still considering at the time
of the GB President's death.


3. (C) Regarding highlights of the recent ECOWAS assessment
visit, Maduekwe said that he, along with the Deputy Foreign
Ministers of Angola, Burkina Faso, ECOWAS Chairman Chambas,
and the Foreign Minister of Senegal, to name a few, attended
the swearing in of the Speaker of the House as the interim
President; met with the Minister of Defense but not the
Service Chiefs; and had the opportunity to see the remnants
of the bomb -- made in Thailand - that killed Vieira. They
also went to the sites of both assassinations -- Vieira's and
the Bissauan CDS. He added that the ECOWAS team also visited
Vieira's widow who was staying in the Angolan Embassy as a
safe haven as Vieira had sent her there for protection the
day before his assassination as, according to Maduekwe, she
said he knew the end was near.


4. (C) The Ambassador asked Maduekwe what he viewed as next
steps. He said that he was quite worried about not having
elections in 60 days given that the atmosphere in GB is ripe
for narco-traffickers to take advantage of the political
vacuum. Maduekwe, admitting that he had no proof, but said
that there was a part of him that believed that Vieira and
his CDS had been played against each other by
narco-traffickers who could have orchestrated both killings
in order to ensure that GB ended up with a head of state that
was under their control. In addition, he said there were
major rifts with in the military from what he could see
between the Minister of Defense and old-line generals on one
side, and the Service Chiefs on the other side. He, as well
as other members of the ECOWAS assessment team, were
disappointed not to be allowed to meet with the Service
Chiefs. The Nigerian Foreign Minister also lamented that the
crime scene and evidence for both Vieira and the GB CDS had
been badly contaminated, and he did not believe that anything
would come out of the investigation of the two killings.


5. (C) Maduekwe said that in his conversation with the new
interim president (former speaker of the GB house) that the
later was hoping for as much international support as
possible in order to hold elections, and that GB was looking
for Nigerian leadership to help GB out through this difficult
time. Ambassador underscored our very real concern about the
rise of narco-trafficking in GB and that certainly a
political vacuum could make it worse. On a closing note
Maduekwe said that in a recent conversation with his
counterpart in Equatorial Guinea (EG) on the February 2009
attempt to destabilize the EG government, the EG Foreign
Minister asked Nigeria to be more of a leader in the region
on controlling small arms and narco-trafficking. Despite
Nigeria's views to the contrary, Maduekwe noted, the EG
government believes that Nigerian narco-traffickers and
militants are trying to destabilize EG so that it can serve

ABUJA 00000418 002 OF 002


as a based to bring in weapons to the Niger Delta or more
drugs into the West African region.
SANDERS