Real Owners

Things are falling apart for Allen Onyeama and Air Peace, the US Department

of Justice have indicted him for money laundering while Nigeria’s EFCC has

launched an investigation into the books of one of Nigeria’s leading

Airline Company.

In a game of names and conspiracies, new facts have emerged which point to

the reality that the Jonathans, Mr. Timi Alaibe, former Managing Director

of Niger Delta Development Commision and Kingsley Kuku, former Chairman of

The Presidential Amnesty Program to former President Jonathan are the real

owners of Nigerian Airline, Airpeace Nigeria LTD.

WHERE THE MONEY CAME FROM

Kingsley Kuku during his time as Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty

Program converted his office as a fund raising scheme, and indeed the funds

were raised. Several billions of unaccounted tax payers money were stolen

from the Amnesty program, and when Kingsley Kuku’s time as Chairman was

over, a clearly orchestrated arson was committed at the accounts records

office of the Presidential Amnesty Office to erase all trace of theft and

fraud, a well thought out plan, a well executed plan. But the eyes of

Nigeria’s anti graft commissions were already on him, and he fled to the

U.S. before he could answer to EFCC’s questions about a N6.2bn contract, he

has been on exile since 2015.

THE FRONT – ALLEN ONYEAMA.

Allen Onyema, the publicly known owner of Air Peace was a legal

practitioner based in Lagos until 2013 when Air Peace was inaugurated. He

was not a business man who had build successful empires over time, he had

no digital or analogue record of successful business ventures. In 2013, he

had successfully obtained the permits to set up what would eventually be

Nigeria’s biggest airline company from nothing.

The US Department of Justice a few weeks ago indicted Mr Onyeama for fraud

and money laundering, apparently more people have began to ask the question

“Where did Mr Allen get the funds to set up Air Peace from?”

Private investigations have revealed that Air Peace and “Mama Peace”, the

nickname of Former First Lady, Patience Jonathan are no different from rain

and water.

It has been gathered that Patience Goodluck Jonathan popular known as ‘Mama

Peace’ who personally recommended the name ‘Air Peace Nigeria’. Patience

Jonathan who had wanted her face to be behind the then newly founded

airline was advised against it as it would have far reaching consequences

on political optics seeing as Goodluck Jonathan made no attempt to revive

the nation’s national Carrier.

Investigations confirmed that Mr. Timi Alaibe and Mr Kuku used Alex

Onyema’s firm to open different NGOs and companies that were later used to

transfer money in millions of dollars to US accounts that Mr. Allen Onyeama

used to purchase the Airpeace Nigeria LTD fleet – This is why the U.S got

involved.

In 2009, Mr. Timi Alaibe who had wanted to contest for Bayelsa governorship

election after his stint as Senior Special Adviser on Amnesty to the

president, approached Patience Jonathan the then First lady to help

persuade President Jonathan to appoint his progeny Kingsley Kuku who served

as his Personal Assisatnt while in NDDC to be Chairman of the Presidential

Amnesty Program in an attempt to cover his tracks.

Patience Jonathan agreed on the condition that her office will be

constantly serviced by the Amnesty Office. Timi Alaibe agreed and a new

alliance was forged between the duo. An alliance that would consequently

give birth to Air Peace Airlines LTD.

FOLLOWING THE MONEY

A few months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a financial audit of

the Presidential Amnesty Program and the NDDC.

Consequently, the The United States Department of Justice charged Allen

Ifechukwu Athan Onyema, the Chairman, CEO, and founder of Air Peace, a

Nigerian airline, with bank fraud and money laundering “for moving more

than $20 million from Nigeria through United States bank accounts in a

scheme involving false documents based on the purchase of airplanes,”

according to a statement from the United States Attorney’s Office for the

Northern District of Georgia.

Air Peace’s Chief of Administration and Finance, Ejiroghene Eghagha, was

also being charged with bank fraud and committing aggravated identity theft

in connection with the scheme.

According to the statement issued by the Department Office Justice, “Onyema

allegedly leveraged his status as a prominent business leader and airline

executive while using falsified documents to commit fraud.” U.S. Attorney

Byung J. “BJay” Pak was quoted in the statement as saying; “We will

diligently protect the integrity of our banking system from being corrupted

by criminals, even when they disguise themselves in a cloak of

international business.”

Robert J. Murphy , Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field

Division who commented on the indictment said, “Allen Onyema’s status as a

wealthy businessman turned out to be a fraud. He corrupted the U.S. banking

system, but his trail of deceit and trickery came to a skidding halt. DEA

would like to thank the many law enforcement partners and the subsequent

prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office who aided in making this

investigation a success.”

“Onyema setup various innocent sounding multi-million dollar asset

purchases which were nothing more than alleged fronts for his scam,” said

acting Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer, who oversees HSI operations

in Georgia and Alabama.

According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the indictment, and other information

presented in court: “Onyema, a Nigerian citizen and businessman, is the

founder and Chairman of several organizations that purport to promote peace

across Nigeria, including the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony, International

Center for Non-Violence and Peace Development, and All-Time Peace Media

Communications Limited.

“Beginning in 2010, Onyema began travelling frequently to Atlanta, where he

opened several personal and business bank accounts. Between 2010 and 2018,

over $44.9 million was allegedly transferred into his Atlanta-based

accounts from foreign sources.”

Onyema founded Air Peace in 2013.

According to the statement, “in years following the founding of Air Peace,

he traveled to the United States and purchased multiple airplanes for the

airline. However, over $3 million of the funds used to purchase the

aircraft allegedly came from bank accounts for Foundation for Ethnic

Harmony, International Center for Non-Violence and Peace Development,

All-Time Peace Media Communications Limited, and Every Child Limited.

“Beginning in approximately May 2016, Onyema, together with Eghagha,

allegedly used a series of export letters of credit to cause banks to

transfer more than $20 million into Atlanta-based bank accounts controlled

by Onyema. The letters of credit were purportedly to fund the purchase of

five separate Boeing 737 passenger planes by Air Peace. The letters were

supported by documents such as purchase agreements, bills of sale, and

appraisals proving that Air Peace was purchasing the aircraft from

Springfield Aviation Company LLC, a business registered in Georgia.

“However, the supporting documents were fake — Springfield Aviation Company

LLC, which is owned by Onyema and managed by a person with no connection to

the aviation business, never owned the aircraft, and the company that

allegedly drafted the appraisals did not exist.

“Eghagha allegedly participated in this scheme as well, directing the

Springfield Aviation manager to sign and send false documents to banks and

even using the manager’s identity to further the fraud. After Onyema

received the money in the United States, he allegedly laundered over $16

million of the proceeds of the fraud by transferring it to other accounts.”

Onyema and Eghagha were indicted on November 19, 2019, on one count of

conspiracy to commit bank fraud, three counts of bank fraud, one count of

conspiracy to commit credit application fraud, and three counts of credit

application fraud.

Additionally, Onyema was charged with 27 counts of money laundering, and

Eghagha was charged with one count of aggravated identity theft.

You would recall that in 2014, Diepreye Dikibo, spokesman of the

ex-Militant Leaders Forum in the Niger Delta, alleged that Onyema and

Kingsley Kuku, former adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger

Delta Affairs, used funds meant for the amnesty programme to float Air

Peace.

Kuku was the coordinator of the project while Onyema was a consultant.

In a statement, Dikibo alleged that Onyema’s Foundation for Ethnic Harmony

was one of the biggest beneficiaries of contracts from presidential amnesty

programme.

Read an excerpt of the statement from the spokesman of the ex-militant

leaders as published on www.thecable.ng 24th November 2019.

Initially, there were rumors that Air Peace, a new Airline whose aircraft

have recently been cited at Lagos Airports belong to the First Lady

Patience Faka Jonathan. That is all not true. We believe at this moment,

that those who churned out the story that the Airlines belonged to the

First Lady did so deliberately to hide the truth and to mislead the people.

The truth did not take too long to come out. Business concerns owned by

Allen Onyema, a Lagos based businessman, colleague and close confidant of

the Special adviser to the President on Niger Delta & Chairman,

Presidential Amnesty Programme Kingsley Kuku have not been confirmed as

responsible for the Airlines and more to that, Allen Onyema has now

publicly confirmed that he is the Chairman of the Air Peace Airlines.

Allen Onyeama’s business outfit handled the demobilization and orientation

of former Niger Delta militants which cost billions of Naira to run. Allen

Onyema has also been responsible for high valued training contracts

(running into billions) in the areas of welding training as well as

aviation training for the Presidential Amnesty Programme in countries such

as South Africa, The United States and Dubai.

Kingsley Kuku, Allen Onyema with House of Reps Committee Members on the

Niger Delta visiting Proclad Academy, Dubai (Where Allen Onyema’s business

outfit ICNPD) is training Niger Delta youths in Welding for millions of

dollars.

The appointment of Kingsley Kuku as SA, Niger Delta & Chairman of the

Amnesty Programme in January 2011, was a huge blessing for Allen Onyema as

it gave him automatic access to a monster chunk of the more than sixty

billion naira allocated to the amnesty programme yearly.

Two of Allen Onyeama’s NGOs which also double as business outfits are known

to be the biggest beneficiary of large value Presidential Amnesty Contracts

and we can confirm that none of these outfits has any ties to the First

Lady Patience Jonathan.

They include the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria (FEHN) and the

International Center for Non-violence & Peace Development (ICNPD).

All the contracts awarded to Allen Onyema and his business run into

millions of dollars and are all grossly inflated and over valued in a

manner designed to short change the Amnesty Programme and steal the

billions of naira yearly allocated to the manage the amnesty program in the

Niger Delta.

End of excerpt.

Since her husband, Ex-president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, was voted out of

power in 2015, Patience Jonathan has been dragged to court at least four

times by the Economic and Financial crimes Commission (EFCC), with the

target of reclaiming both money and properties allegedly acquired with

“proceeds of unlawful activities.”