Appeal in Dikko kidnap plot fails
The court rejected new suggestions that the Nigerian government and the Israeli secret service were involved in the attempted kidnapping. The four had argued that they acted for the idealist and patriotic purpose of returning Nigeria's "most wanted man" to his home country to face justice for alleged crimes of corruption. Mr George Carman, QC for Alexander Barak, said to be the ringleader, told the appeal judges that a number of people involved had claimed diplomatic immunity from prosecution. A Nigerian Boeing 707 was standing by at Stansted, awaiting the crate which had been originally delivered to the Nigerian High Commission in London.
At the airport Yusufu, the former Nigerian army major was wearing the uniform of a Nigerian Airways pilot. He was driven there by a car supplied by the Nigerian High Commission. Barak too had been supplied with a Nigerian passport. "All these facts lead to the inevitable assumption that the kidnap had the consent and approval of the friendly Commonwealth country of Nigeria" said Mr Carman.
But lord Justice Croom Johnson said there was nothing in the evidence to suggest that the Nigerian Government or its High Commission in London, or Israel's secret service, were involved in the plot.
The judge said; "There are very many exiles living in this country whose governments may change with rapid frequency. But people who come to live here must remain free from any threat that they might be taken back forcibly.
"We have no view about alleged prior events in Nigeria. All we know is that a very bad attempt was made to kidnap Dr Dikko and this kind of thing must be discouraged.
"It was an affront to this country and to its sovereignty and to the rule of law which we are not willing to tolerate."
Alhaji Dikko, a former Nigerian minister of transport and aviation, was snatched from outside his home in Bayswater, London, in July last year. He was drugged, handcuffed and put into a crate which was taken to Stansted airport, where a plane was waiting to fly him back to Nigeria. The attempt was foiled by the alertness of a Customs officer and anti- terrorist branch police officers.
Four men admitted being involved in the plot and were gaoled at the Old Bailey on February 12 for attempted kidnapping. Alexander Barak, aged 28, a diamond dealer from Israel, said to be the ringleader, was gaoled for 14 years. Lev-Arie Shapiro, aged 45, a hospital anaesthetist, and Felix Messaud Abitbol, aged 33, a clothing importer, both from Israel, were each gaoled for 10 years. Mohammed Yusufu, aged 42, a former Nigerian army major, received a 12-year sentence. All were recommended for deportation.
Alhaji Dikko
At their trial in February this year, it was insisted that neither the Israeli intelligence nor the Nigerian authorities had had anything to do with the kidnap plot. The story then was very different from the current assertion made during the appeal hearing. In February. Barak was asked:
"Where did you get the money from?
Barak: I came to London with the equivalent of £100,000 in US dollars and pounds sterling.
Q: Who provided you with the money?
A: I said my friends in Lagos are very rich and for them, the sum of £100,000 or £200,000 which is the sum of such an operation, would not be too much.
Q: Who provided the political co-operation necessary for the operation?
A: About the passport, obtaining the passport involves paying a simple bribe to a passport official, and the plane, instructions for the aircraft would be given by someone in the operational headquarters of the airline - this only goes to prove that my friends in Lagos had influence in airline headquarters but does not prove any political involvement.
