Senator representing Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu, has said that he once traded in heavy weapons internationally before quitting the business at the insistence of his parents.
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Kalu made the claim during an interview on Arise Television on Monday while discussing his relationships with former and current South African leaders.
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The former Abia State governor said his business activities were not limited to Nigeria. He said he was involved in the sale of heavy weapons from one country to another.
When asked if he was an arms dealer, Kalu said, “Yes, so I stopped because my…”
He explained that he left the business after his parents asked him to stop.
“But my parents, my mother, my father came and said I must stop, and I stopped,” he said.
Kalu also said he was selling guns to make money and that it was not his concern what happened after the weapons were sold.
Who He Claimed to Sell To
When asked if he supplied weapons to the African National Congress during the fight against apartheid in South Africa, Kalu denied selling only to the ANC.
He said he sold to anyone who could afford to buy, including buyers in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Namibia.
“No, I was selling to anybody who wants to buy. If you have the money, you want to buy in D.R.C, I sell to you, you want to buy in Namibia, you want to buy…” he said.
When asked where he got the weapons from, Kalu refused to give details. He said, “It’s only my business.”
His Response to Security Concerns
The interviewer raised concerns about the spread of small arms in Nigeria and asked how Kalu’s former business related to the country’s security challenges.
Kalu said the weapons he traded in were not small arms. He described them as heavy weapons sold between countries.
“No, no, these are heavy arms that were sold country to country,” he said.
When asked if he sold weapons to Libya under late leader Muammar Gaddafi, Kalu said he sold to anyone who had money to buy.
“To anybody that had money to buy,” he said.
When the interviewer suggested that this meant he sold arms to Gaddafi, Kalu said, “May his soul rest in peace. He was a good man. If you have money to buy, when I was selling, I would sell to you.”
His Links to South African Leaders
Kalu also spoke about his relationship with former and current South African leaders. He said the friendship began with former South African President Nelson Mandela.
According to him, Mandela introduced him to former President Thabo Mbeki and current President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Kalu said Mandela once told him that Mbeki’s father contributed more to the anti-apartheid struggle than Ramaphosa’s father. He said this was one of the reasons the ANC chose Mbeki over Ramaphosa as Mandela’s running mate.
He added that Mbeki later introduced him to former President Jacob Zuma, and that his relationship with South African leaders continued through different administrations.
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