Dahiru Mangal Revealed

Few weeks after the publication from WikiLeaks on Dahiru Mangal, a faceless group known as KATSINA CONCERN CITIZENS did a rejoinder over the story, which signed by its Secretary known as Lawal Saidu Funtua claiming the innocence of Dahiru Mangal, but the fact is the if the truth must be told then the so called Lawal Saidu Funtua about whom he is protecting.

That the innocence he is claiming for his pay master was all lies let me refresh his memories that Sometime in 2006, the erstwhile chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Malam Nuhu Ribaduordered the arrest of Alhaji Dahiru Barau Mangal, the 51-year-old multi-billionaire businessman and Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the AFDIN Group (Nig) Limited, comprising Mangal Airlines (now Max Airlines), AFDIN Football Club, AFDIN Construction Company Nigeria Ltd, Manasawa Oil, Mangal Oil and Manasawa Enterprises, a clearing and forwarding outfit. Mangal also owns a transport company and a security outfit with more than 2000 staff. The array of companies notwithstanding, Mangal is more notorious as a cross-border smuggling mogul. He is to smuggling what the executed Lawrence Anini is to armed robbery. His eventual arrest followed series of complaints from some concerned interests who were alarmed by the amazing scale of his smuggling activities and their devastating negative effects on the country's economy. The arrest was a big blow on the political interest of leading figures of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Katsina, Mangal's home state and the party itself, especially as the 2007 general elections were fast approaching. Mangal is the biggest single financier of the party in the state. To salvage the situation, Aminu Bello Masari, who was then the Speaker of the House of Representatives and a governorship aspirant in the state, working in concert with Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, who was then governor of Katsina State, intervened to secure a release for their most treasured asset in the state. Both Yar'Adua and Masari were, and remain beneficiaries of Mangal's political sponsorship. Mangal was also one of the key members of the Masari 2007 governorship campaign network until Olusegun Obasanjo, then president, tilted the scales in favour of the incumbent, Ibrahim Shema.

It is on record that Masari contacted a former member of the House who was Ribadu's bosom friend to talk to the former EFCC boss which the intervention paid off, but with a condition. Ribadu requested for an undertaking from Mangal to desist from smuggling as it constitutes national economic sabotage. Mangal had no objection to this. Even at that, Ribadu would not let him off the hook without taking the matter to Obasanjo and obtaining his approval. Later, at the meeting with Obasanjo, where Yar'Adua was also present, the latter was said to have appealed to the former president to prevail on Ribadu to drop the case against Mangal. Yar'Adua was said learnt to have argued that Mangal was the main financier of his election victories in 1999 and 2003. Beyond that, he identified the embattled Mangal as PDP's chief financial pillar in Katsina State, with the party owing the victories of most of its elected members to his generosity and power of mobilisation.  

Obasanjo, though impressed by Mangal's contributions to the party's progress, was, however, uneasy about his illegitimate source of income. While bowing to sustained pressure, he asked Mangal to put an end to all his smuggling activities. He went further to promise him government support if he decides to go into other legitimate forms of businesses. 'You must desist from the act and we will encourage you to go into other forms of legitimate businesses that will benefit you and the country. If you don't and that 'mad boy' (referring to Ribadu) catches you again, you will have your teeth to gnash,' Obasanjo was quoted as saying.

With those words, Mangal regained his freedom. But his smuggling activities did not stop. Sources said that he only went underground for a while. Today, he is back from the lull, and with Yar'Adua, his friend now calling the shots in Aso Rock, is engaged in smuggling more than ever before.     it is also on record that the Mangal's arrest by the EFCC was not his first encounter with security agents. At the twilight of the dark era of General Sani Abacha, Mangal was also a guest of the police for the same reason. Police sources disclosed that following an unrest that was ignited by a disagreement within the smuggling ring in the state, the then Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Ibrahim Coomassie ordered his arrest, alongside his friends, Alhaji Mansir Zango, Iro Isansi and others. As the story goes, Mangal, who craved to be the lord of the smuggling mafia in the state, had attempted to force this unwritten code down the throats of other petty smugglers there. By its definition, he would be referred to as the godfather or ultimate leader of the smuggling ring while every other smuggler would pass through him or would be answerable to him. But this didn't go down well with others who then protested. Backed by some youth in Jibia Local Government, the people revolted, threatening to disrupt the entrance or exit of all his smuggled products around the Nigeria-Niger border. The unrest in the area attracted the attention of Coomassie. Incidentally, the former IGP is also from Katsina and is said to be well aware of the smugglers' nefarious activities. Fortunately for Mangal, Coomassie was on his way out of the force as he had attained the retirement age and his exit led to the natural death of the case. Mangal immediately got his way into the thick political mix of the transition period that followed Abacha's demise and contributed immensely to the victory of his friend, Yar'Adua as governor. With Yar'Adua in the saddle, giving him a state cover, Mangal got his wings back to fly even higher beyond the initial storm.  

His smuggling activities became so pronounced as to attract the veiled condemnation of notable citizens such as the former Minister of Defence, Gen. T.Y Danjuma. At a confab organised by Leadership newspaper on the de-industrialisation of the north, on 4 March last year, the retired General referred to the worrisome rate of the smuggling activities of the influential Katsina businessman as detrimental to the country's economy. As Danjuma noted in the keynote address, his smuggling activities are one major reason industries in the northern region are collapsing. Danjuma stated: 'In its heyday, the textiles manufacturing sub-sector alone employed about 1.3 million people directly and indirectly. Today, the UNTL, Arewa Textiles, Kaduna Textiles, Chellco, Bagauda Textile Mills, Holborn, Gaskiya Textiles, Universal Spinners, Kano Textile Industries, Dangote Textiles, Nortex, Supertex, Zamfara Textiles and several others spread across the 19 northern states have effectively shut down. And with them have gone hundreds of thousands of jobs directly and indirectly. Most of the cotton fanners have been laid off together with the labourers that helped in harvesting the product; our ginnery plants are idle and so are the traders, agents and distributors that used to provide employment to thousands. Textile is only one example. By one estimate, in Kano alone, about 700 different factories have shut down in the last decade. There was a time Kano competed with Lagos for having the larger number of industries. Today, only the carcasses of those factories remind us of their existence once upon a time. It is clear to most people that the cost of energy and the ever flourishing business of smuggling at the northern borders are the main reasons for the demise of our manufacturing industry. Smuggling is a major cause of de-industrialisation because it is much easier to smuggle goods through the northern borders than it is through the Lagos borders, for example. This problem can only be solved whenever the government makes up its mind to do so. Many of the big-time smugglers are well known and are even known to be cronies of leaders in power.'

If Danjuma was crying wolf, perhaps, an outburst by the Customs' Comptroller in charge of Imports and Exports at the headquarters of the Nigeria Customs Service, Mr. Julius Nwagwu, was most instructive. Fielding questions from senators at a two-day public hearing organised by the Senate committee on Industries, Nwagwu attributedCustoms officers' inability to check smuggling to the influence of   'well-to-do Nigerians' and 'untouchables' involved in it.

Mangal's penchant for compromising state officials and security personnel is legendary. It is a common joke in Katsina metropolis that as a new Customs' or police boss, if you have not gone to pay homage to Mangal, then 'you have not resumed properly.' Customs officers are understood to lobby to secure redeployment to the area regarded as a goldmine. And generally in Katsina State, the influence of the AFDIN boss is all-pervasive as his residence at Kofa Kwaya is a Mecca of sorts to favour seekers and government functionaries.  

According to an online news saharareporters, one Dikko Abdullahi, who was recently promoted to Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs, is said to be the main link in the department to Mangal's expanding smuggling operations. Abdullahi, believed to have a relationship with Aso Rock both as a distant cousin of President Yar'Adua as well as via his marriage to a sister of Hajia Turai Yar'Adua, the President's wife, has reportedly received rapid prominence in the Customs Service since Yar'Adua came to office. He was promoted from Comptroller to Assistant Comptroller-General within a short time. It was also learnt he is being groomed to take over as Comptroller-General of the NCS in the near future.

However apart from smuggling, Mangal is also reported to be involved adultery it is on record that Mangal indeed has a son out of wedlock, a grievous sin in Islam which could attract death by stoning under the Shari'ah Law being implemented by Katsina and several other core northern states of Nigeria.It is the pride of any father to see to the needs of his children. And the parental bond that exists between the child and his or her father triggers holistic development, say experts on family matters. Unfortunately for Shehu Dahiru Mangal, the secret son of Alhaji Dahiru Mangal, this joy may elude him for a long time to come. National Newspoint learnt that Shehu, who is a product of the love affair between Mangal and Halima Abdullahi of Batsari Local Government of Kastina State is a victim of circumstances.   the adulterous relationship between Mangal and Halima stretches back to about 20 years. Shehu Dahiru Mangal, the living proof of the relationship, was said to have been born 18 years ago. A competent source however disclosed that 'Mangal, desperate to keep the relationship out of public notice, has kept an unwelcome distance from Shehu, his own blood.'

Apart from a monthly sustenance fee of 50,000 which he passes to Halima through a close friend, Mangal has effectively abandoned the task of rearing Shehu to the poor woman. As a result, the poor boy who did not ask to brought into this world has been denied education and decent living. A former Student of Isa Kaita College of Education, Mangal Junior dropped out of school due to the mother's inability to pay his fees and meet his day-to-day needs. He is currently eking out a living as a tractor driver. As son and mother languish from poverty, Mangal, the super-rich power broker that has the ears of The President and the PDP, continues to live it up, seemingly untouchable on account of his powerful connections in high places. But, as it has often been said, truth is constant and justice will eventually prevail. Who knows, one day Alhaji Dahiru Barau Mangal may well be called to account; after all, Allah never sleeps.

I think the so called Lawal Saidu Funtua and his faceless group should see this and keep short.     

By Adamu Abubakar Gwarzo