US embassy cable - 02ABUJA3036

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 003036 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY -- PASS TO A/S KANSTEINER AND 
AMB. JETER 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/12 
TAGS: PBTS, MOPS, PGOV, PREL, PREF, EPET, NI, CM 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: MOD DANJUMA ACCUSES FRENCH OF ARMING 
CAMEROON 
 
 
REF: ABUJA 02933 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR HOWARD F. JETER; REASONS 1.5 
(B) AND (D) 
 
 
1.  (C) During a private moment at the October 30 
Australian National Day, I asked Minister of Defense 
T.Y. Danjuma if he could confirm reports of a GON 
military build-up in response to the ICJ decision on 
the Bakassi.  Danjuma did not deny the reports as I 
thought he would; rather he said that Nigeria's recent 
military hardware acquisitions were in response to 
arming of Cameroon by France.  This clandestine French 
program had been going on for 18 months, according to 
Danjuma.  The arms supplied by France, the Minister 
said, included aircraft, amphibious crafts, and 
munitions. 
 
 
2.  (C) When I reported that the French had denied 
these allegations, Danjuma said that Nigeria was 
certain of its information because the GON had 
intelligence agents in Cameroon who gave eye witness 
accounts of the arms transfers.  Moreover, these 
agents had also reported the presence of French 
military advisors in Cameroon who were working side- 
by-side with the Cameroonian military and training 
them on the use of the new equipment. 
 
 
3.  (C) COMMENT: Danjuma has a fixation on the French, 
and his certainty of French machinations is 
unshakable.  Whether real or imagined, Danjuma's 
perception, likely shared by other senior GON 
officials, is helping to drive current GON military 
acquisitions and policy. ANDREWS