Money laundering: Civil society wants investigation of allegation against Air Peace boss

Following a recent indictment against Chairman of Airpeace airline, Mr Allen Onyema, the Coalition of Civil Society for Good Governance (CCSGG) on Wednesday, called for a thorough and joint investigation between the United State Justice Department and Nigeria.

The United State Department of Justice, had last week, accused Mr Onyema of money laundering.

This had generated a lot of controversies among Nigerians considering.his recent philanthropic act of evacuating Nigerians From South-Africa in the heat of the xenophobic attacks against foreigners in the country at no cost.

The group in a statement signed and issued by its Convener, Comrade, Kasali Omotayo in Abuja, said the call for investigation became imperative to verify the authenticity of the allegation.

While describing the allegation as hasty and ill-motivated, the group said it became necessary to query the sudden indictment of a Nigerian who has been doing business for decades in the United State and has never been charged for any fraud.

“We have been following and we will continue to follow with keen interest the conflicting narratives coming out of the United States regarding the purported indictment of one of Nigeria’s foremost generous donor.

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“As the Conscience of society and promoter of Good Governance in Nigeria, we recognize the concern of the United State Justice Department stand on this matter. But in as much as we appreciate the involvement of Judiciary through the United State Department of Justice which has equally stated that the indictment only contained charges and the accused remain innocent until proven otherwise by the court. An indictment is not a conviction until proven by a law court.

“We see this as an organized conspiracy by his business rivals in Nigeria and their international collaborators to rubbish Mr Allen Onyema image and to undermine his businesses. We call for a joint investigation between the United State Justice Department and their Nigeria counterparts to verify the authenticity of this purported allegation of fraud and Money laundering,” he said.

To this end, he urged the Government to do all it can to unravel the issues behind the allegations.

“From our independent findings, It is on record his numerous investments in Nigeria have been obliging not only as windows of job opportunities for Nigerians from diverse backgrounds but his philanthropic gesture is seen as a classical example of excellence and humanitarian service via Corporate Social Responsibility and genuine care for the citizenry,” it added.