The former Rivers State Governor, and Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi has on sunday confessed, that he collected the sum of $15 million from the former embattled National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
The Minister, said in a statement in Abuja, that the State Government under his leadership, decided to collect part of the money from the former NSA, to import the armoured helicopters to fight criminals, who he said were masquerading as militants, kidnappers, and all other elements, while he held sway as Governor of Rivers State.
This confession came on the heels of the controversy generated by the two helicopters, that were seized by Nigerian Customs, that allegedly belong to the River State government.
The statement reads: “With a strong political will to tackle these menace, and make the State a safe place, Amaechi initiated a lot of measures to deal with the menace.
“Purchasing these helicopters was one of the measures the Amaechi administration took, to curb the clandestine and criminal activities in the State.
“And the decision to go for these helicopters, was based on the advice and recommendation of Security Experts and Specialists, that were working closely with our Nigerian security agents, to rid the State of these criminals – kidnappers, pipeline vandals, vicious political cultists, e.t.c.
“Sequel to the recommendation of Security Experts, the Rivers State Government bought the two Bell 412 security surveillance helicopters during the administration of Amaechi, in collaboration with the Federal Government, through the Office of the National Security Adviser.”
The statement added: “To show their support, the Federal Government through the Office of the NSA (Dasuki), contributed $15m, about half of the total sum, towards the purchase of the helicopters.
