If those gunning for the head of proprietor of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, lawyer and businessman, had done so before he airlifted Nigerians from the xenophobic attacks foisted on them in South Africa, they would not have met a united condemnation as they now have. Allen came like a bolt from the blue into the highly volatile industry and is thriving in a clime where others are either heavily indebted or tottering on the brink of collapse. It must have beat industry watchers that Air Peace purchases brand new aircraft of the most modern category, and does so rather audaciously, without loan from Nigeria or outside it. Such move was daring, given that banks keep airlines at a comfortable distance on account of their industry’s volatility such as make loans to them high risk ventures.
I have allowed the dust to settle before opinionating on the matter, and to find more facts beyond the skeletal facts that elicited early reactions. Many people do not know that Allen Ifechukwu Athan Onyema, CEO of Air Peace, was charged alongside Ejiroghene Eghagha, chief of administration and finance of Air Peace, by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta, Division on November 19, 2019, otherwise known as Grand Jury criminal indictment. In all, the indictment alleges, in its 36 pages and 88 paragraphs, 35 counts of diverse criminal offences. The charge seeks forfeiture to the United States all proceeds of the said charges, implying that aircraft of the airline, if they fall into the so-called proceeds, would be forfeited to the United States of America. Details of the charges amount to technicalities but it is critical to mention that Grand Jury charges are like ex-parte motions. The court can grant the prayers behind the accused, but the accused has legal opportunity to defend themselves. There are ample opportunities for the accused to set themselves free from the hook of the law, and Allen is equal to the task. I am moved to make this seemingly late commentary on the matter because the prayer of the Grand Jury indictment, as has been stated earlier, is that if Allen is found guilty, proceeds of the crime would be forfeited to the US. For the sake of figures wherein counts nine to 35 gave a list of transfers from one Wells Fargo account ending 8621 to two others. in all, the indictment alleges in its 36 pages and 88 paragraphs 35 counts of diverse criminal offences. Count 1 alleges Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud, an offence covered by title 18 of U.S. Code (U.S.C.) 1349. Counts 2 to 4 allege bank fraud, contrary to 18 U.S. C. 1344. Counts five to eight allege conspiracy to commit credit Application Fraud, covered under 18 U.S. C. 371. Counts nine through 35 allege money laundering, covered under 18 U.S.C 1957. Finally, Count 36, Aggravated Identity Theft, 18 U.S.C. 1028A(a)(1). Counts One to Eight, name both Onyema and Eghagha as defendants. Counts Nine to 35, specifically name only Onyema as defendant. Count 36 names Eghagha as the sole defendant. If convicted of any of the charges, the indictment is seeking for forfeiture to the US of any property derived from proceeds traceable to such offenses, including Money Judgement and Funds held in JP Morgan Chase account ending in 5512 ($4,017,852.51), Bank of Montreal Canada account number ending 7523 ($4,593,842.05) and Bank of Montreal Canada account number ending in 7515 ($5,634,842.04), totalling $14,246,536.60.
If you do the maths, you will find that Allen’s business may go under, if he is convicted of those offences. It is for this reason that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) can only but be careful, given that they will play investigative roles in the trial, to ensure that there is no miscarriage of justice, not just because the Grand Jury system is a one-eyed system, given that it indicts people even before they defend themselves, but also because it is not unheard of that Grand Jury indictments have been dismissed in the past. It is, therefore, important for people, especially in the court of public opinion, to withhold judgement based on a one-sided narrative presented by the prosecutors, who have been known to be overzealous.
We should believe Allen until the prosecution proves its allegation. He has told us that all transactions went through the Central Bank of Nigeria, and that he did not borrow from any quarter. I am inclined to believe him until he is nailed. If he was a fraud, there would have been subtle indications of such abnormalities in his operations. We hear there are elements of business rivalry in the matter.
The undercurrent insinuations pervading the views of a tiny minority who are inclined to believe the Grand Jury is that successes in our clime do not come without crime. That is fallacious and makes nonsense of hundreds of hardworking Nigerians who have turned hard business terrains into oases of success. This is tantamount to economic aggression from outside our shores. I am irked by the Grand Jury order that Allen’s assets, on the purported crime, should be forfeited to the government of the United states. I do not lay claim to any knowledge of international law but a sense of patriotism makes me look with disdain at charges that accuse a foreign citizen of misdemeanour, but would press no charges against the collaborating local institutions.
Allen could not have perpetrated the alleged crimes without the connivance of banking institutions in that country. Why has the Grand Jury not pressed charges of connivance against them, if there was nothing sinister about the process and intent? I admit that views expressed here may be sentimental, and the law shuns sentiments, but the court of public opinion holds the truth as sacrosanct. Allen may be going through his baptism of fire as an international businessman, but if he is innocent, as he has told his compatriots, he will emerge even stronger, given that fire only brings out the best in gold.