By Ann Mcgregor, PhD

In the sandy grounds of the Sahara Salient, at an unknown distance from the remote village of Dapchi lie in unmarked graves, the bodies of five girls. No epitaph.

The Sahel is hyper-arid with sparse vegetation, grassland, and desert shrub where moisture collects.

Many sand seas and dunes field spiced with drought tolerant trees.

A convoy of 4×4 trucks of ISWAP (Islamic State in West African Province) Barnawi faction was on rampage in the early evening of 19th February 2018.

Young girls of a government secondary school were abducted and transported into the unknown. Muslims and Christians students were collective victims of Boko Haram madness.

Leah is a witness and still a victim of the tragedy that befell her mates and friends.

Full of innocence they all had  dreams to go to school, “I want to be a doctor, Falmata always enthused.

In the dormitories or the refectory, they bonded by the common fraternity of youth and humanity.

Fatsuma Abubakar Jambo, 16 years; Falmata Mohammed, 14 years, Falmata Alhaji Inuwa, 16 years; Maimuna Adamu, 14 years and Aisha Abubakar 15 years all muslims,  perished due  heart attack and stress caused by the trauma of the abduction.

Their names were hidden and not mentioned when the girls were released and their fate was only explained by government spokespersons with brief and vague statements that they died of “shock”.

Buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in the Sahel, these young girls’ memories would only remain on the psyche of their parents; there wasn’t any enquiry or effort from the government to ascertain the location of their bodies.

Their parents, traumatized, were abandoned and no effort was made by the government to safeguard their emotional or psychological well being. The only Christian girl, Leah Sharibu spent her 14th birthday in the custody of Boko Haram militants yet once again the government was loudly silent.

Ride it out politics I will call it. Nigerian government rode out the public outrage of the Dapchi kidnappings, the fleeting mention of the 5 dead girls barely at the beginning of their teens, the payment of ransoms and release of terrorists commanders. Husseini Maitangaran and Shuibu Moni who later led deadly Easter attack in Maiduguri.

L-R: Yayale Ahmed, Pascal Holliger, late Aisha Abubakar and late Falmata Alhaji Inuwa

Did the Chibok and Dapchi counters not fall silent or did the ink clocks and timers on the front pages of  international media and social media accounts run out of batteries? The chicken has now come home to roost.

A detailed report released by foreign investigators cataloguing the subterfuge, connivance and dirty deals involving millions of euros linked to Mr Lawal Daura, Nigeria’s head of Department of States Security.

The proceeds stashed at Lamda Privat Bank in the Swiss-German principality, Liechtenstein, were alleged to have been siphoned by Daura through his accomplices from the funds meant for the ransom payments during the negotiations with Boko Haram insurgents for the release of Chibok and Dapchi girls.

The expose which connected Daura, a Nigerian with Niger Republic dual nationality, Pascal Holliger, a Swiss with dual nationality-Brazilian, David Kalu Otto Nigerian/ British citizen, Ian Gaylard-British and Amit Sade an Israeli with dual German nationality. The investigation involved millions euros fritted away during the hostage negotiation process using David Otto’s Company, TGS Intelligence Consultants Ltd. All the companies that will be mentioned below were involved in the negotiations for the release of Chibok and Dapchi girls in conjuction with Swiss government.

They are namely, TGS Security and Intelligence Consultants, Global Risk International and Doiyatech Communications ltd/Secindef. Doiyatech is a conglomerate of seven companies in which Mr Yayale Ahmed holds a major  interest and is a facilitator. There had also been periodic interventions made for and on behalf of Mr Sade by Yayale to Daura.

Consequently Israeli police launched an investigation and subsequently arrested  Mr Sade and others on account of  bribery and corrupting foreign government officials, in which Mr Daura’s name is featured prominently.

Holliger, Otto, Gaylard and Sade have all in one way or another been associated with the Companies mentioned either directly as Directors or by proxy. Otto left TGS and became a director at International Risk Group before finally joining SECINDEF. A similar pattern can also be ascertained with Gaylard who left International Risk Group to join TGS before finally anchoring at SECINDEF. Mr Sade is the bonafide owner of SECINDEF.

The phony firm TGS was dissolved in the UK company register. A Corporate search of TGS Intelligence Consult shows that the company name in UK was registered as company no. 0941752X. It was incorporated on 2nd February, 2015 with £100 and had registered address 181 Waveney Drive Chelmsfort Essex CM17QD England. The company was dissolved on 19th July 2016 surprisingly the company was contracted by Daura to teach and simulate “Driving Techniques,” ranging from rescue, evacuation and recovery to the International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC Nigeria personnel in 2016.

The World Street Journal, in a detailed report on the negotiation published December 24, 2017, that €1 million euros was paid for the 21 hostages first freed, an additional €2 million euros accompanied the five Boko Haram commanders that were exchanged with the next batch of 82 girls.

While there were no official details of the amounts paid for the release of the Dapchi girls on March 21 this year, and the government insisting that no ransom was paid, sources within DSS said that millions of euros exchanged hands between Mr Daura and Boko Haram insurgents.

Pascal Holliger and  David Otto facilitated the opening of corporate account ROXDUL AUTOMOBILE SERVICES -GmbH account no. 32570021  with Lamda Privat bank Liechtenstein, under the pseudonym AUWALU KALLAMU as the sole signatory. Auwalu and Kallamu are the Arabic synonyms of Lawal and Musa.

False declaration of identity of a commercial entity was another trigger for the investigation as the account was opened using Niger Republic passport.

This might not be the first high profile Nigerian case of false declaration of identity. In Liechtenstein  Mohammed Abacha and his brother Ibrahim opened accounts in the name of Mohammed Sani and Ibrahim Sani. Dedicated prosecutors in US Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative might as well take note.

• Mcgregor is an expert in global security and intelligence.
• Culled from www.newsplusviews.news