US embassy cable - 04ABUJA2144

S E C R E T ABUJA 002144 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PINR, PREL, ASEC, NI 
SUBJECT: SOUCRE CLAIMS "SABOTAGE CAMPAIGN" MAY BE IN THE 
WORKS 
 
 
Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES THOMAS P. FUREY. REASONS 1.5 b, c, and 
 d. 
 
 1. (S)  Poloff met with a contact on December 23 to discuss 
the recent Appeals Court decision and other related topics. 
The source, Aliyu Adamu Jimeta, claimed that "a group" of 
political activists had considered sabotaging government 
infrastructure during the COJA games and the CHOGM meeting in 
Abuja in late 2003.  Those plans had been shelved, he said. 
However, he commented that the same group of between five and 
ten individuals were "thinking that the time may be ripe to 
commence."  The example he gave was the bombing of a wing of 
Lagos' Murtala Mohammed International Airport.  He stated 
that the device would be "small enough to limit damage, but 
should scare travelers away from Nigeria." 
 
2.  (S)  Poloff commented that "this is not the tactic" he 
would choose and changed the subject. 
 
3.  (S)  Comment:  Poloff has known Jimeta for over two years 
as a political operative from Adamawa state, home of the 
current Vice President Atiku Abubakar.  He has never raised 
this topic previously and Poloff has had reason to question 
his motivation and speculated whether he could be working for 
the Nigerian government.  His comments raise one of two 
concerns.  The first possibility is that a group of 
dissidents, frustrated with the continuing corruption and the 
lack of resolution of the rigged 2003 elections, is ready to 
attack the Obasanjo regime.  A campaign of this type was 
carried out in 1995-1998 during the Abacha regime.  At that 
time, Embassy had doubts as to whether it was truly staged by 
dissidents intent on forcing out Abacha or if the regime was 
managing the "attacks" to bolster internal support for their 
unpopular government. 
 
4.  (S)  Comment, cont.:  The second possibility is that the 
increasing inability of the Obasanjo regime to maintain 
control of Nigeria's internal security and manage its image 
abroad is forcing Obasanjo to look for enemies outside in an 
effort to shift the blame for his unpopularity.  Setting up 
and expelling a U.S. diplomat could, in the GON analysis, 
create some sympathy for an Obasanjo increasingly convinced 
of his own importance as the "saviour of Nigeria." 
FUREY