By Gabriel Ewepu – Abuja

The Coalition of Civil Society for Good Governance, CCSGG, Thursday, asserted that the United States of America, USA, an indictment on Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, is a mere conspiracy by business rivals and foreign collaborators.

The CCSGG made the assertion in a statement signed by the Convener, CCSGG, Kasali Omotayo, where it further said Onyema was only accused and not convicted based on the claims made by the United State Department of Justice indicting him for money laundering and fraud.

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Onyema was accused by the United States Department of Justice for allegedly moving over $20 million from Nigeria through United States bank accounts in a scheme involving false documents based on the purchase of airplanes.

The statement reads in part, “As the Conscience of society and promoter of Good Governance in Nigeria, we recognize the concern of the United States Justice Department stand on this matter.

“But in as much as we appreciate the involvement of Judiciary through the United States 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 organized conspiracy by his business rivals in Nigeria and their international collaborators to rubbish Mr. Allen Onyema’s image and to undermine his businesses. We call for a joint investigation between the United States Justice Department and their Nigeria counterparts to verify the authenticity of this purported allegation of fraud and Money laundering.”

According to Omotayo, the indictment was hasty and ill-motivated as there have been conflicting statements on the saga coming out of the United States, hence condemns it.

“The Coalition of Civil Society for Good Governance condemns in its entirety the hasty and ill-motivated indictment of Barr. Allen Onyema the Chairman of Air Peace Nigeria for fraud and money laundering by the United States Department of Justice.

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There is the basis to query this sudden indictment of a Nigerian who has been doing business for decades in the United State and has never been charged for any fraud if not the latest charade that will not stand the test of time. This attempt to tarnish the image of this humble philanthropist heaves fundamental questions of concern.

“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”, he said.

The group also called on the Federal Government to do all it can to unravel the motives behind the alleged media trial of the Air Peace.

“The Federal Government should protect him against this calculated attempt to tarnish the image of Nigeria and run down Nigerian businesses that have continued to make a global impact”, he added.

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