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Diaspora Nigerians urge Buhari to wade into Onyema’s ordeal

By Adamu Abuh and Joke Falaju, Abuja
05 December 2019   |   3:40 am
Concerned Diaspora Citizens has enjoined President Muhammadu Buhari to wade into the ordeal faced by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, in the interest of the country.

Managing Director of Air Peace airlines, Allen Onyema. Photo; WEBFAVOURITES

Concerned Diaspora Citizens has enjoined President Muhammadu Buhari to wade into the ordeal faced by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, in the interest of the country.

In a statement yesterday by Nosa Aigbokhan, the group described the allegations of financial misdeed against the businessman as a deliberate attempt to kill Air Peace and deepen the unemployment crisis in the country.

The group called on Buhari to study the situation and intervene to avert the impending calamity that may befall the country’s aviation industry.

Drawing inference from other foreign jurisdictions, especially in cases of financial crimes and drug-related matters, the group asserted that Onyema should be treated as an individual, not as CEO of Air Peace, not avoid unemployment and uncertainty for his employees.

“The indictment is an attempt to kill Air Peace and create more unemployment for Nigerians under President Buhari’s administration. Before we know it, Nigeria will be taking a prime position on Global Unemployment Index (GUI).

“Nigerians, we have to stop it. We beg President Buhari to systematically study and stop Nigeria’s anti-graft agencies from helping foreign countries in stereotyping Nigerians both home and abroad. This morning, we read that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has seized Mr. Onyema’s travel documents and some people are even talking about extradition,” he said.

In the same vein, the New Nigeria Project (NNP) has queried the competence of the United States of America district court for charging Onyema of bank fraud and money laundering.

The national coordinator, Alhaji Mohammed Danjuma, during a press briefing yesterday, pointed out that Nigeria was not a U.S. colony, hence the competence of the court must be questioned,

He said, “Onyema recently purchased an aircraft from the U.S., paid tax and there were no issues about receiving money from the tax and the aircraft. By the time Onyema goes to court to present his case, most of the details would be thrashed out.”

The group, however, appealed to Nigerians not to declare Onyema guilty before the court of the law’s judgment.

Danjuma suggested that Onyema could pursue the case legally through diplomatic means, to see how he would be acquitted of those charges, adding that as an organisation that had been following the antecedents of the Air Peace boss, the charges were irreconcilable with the person of the accused.

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