I dealt in arms deals with African leaders, had links with CIA, Mossad – Orji Kalu

A Nigerian lawmaker, Orji Kalu, has admitted that he previously engaged in international arms trading, saying he sold weapons to buyers across several African countries before abandoning the business at the insistence of his parents.

Mr Kalu, the senator for Abia North, disclosed on Monday during an interview on Arise Television, where he recounted his involvement in the arms trade and his relationships with political leaders across Africa.

“My major business used to be outside this country, to deal in arms. I was selling guns to make money, but my parents, my mother and my father, came and said I must stop, and I stopped,” he said.

The former Abia State governor said he subsequently abandoned the business but maintained relationships with people he had met through it.

When asked whether he supplied weapons to the African National Congress (ANC) during the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, Mr Kalu denied dealing exclusively with the organisation, saying his business was open to any buyer who could afford his products.

“No, I was selling to anybody who wanted to buy. If you had the money, you wanted to buy in DRC, I sold to you; you wanted to buy in Namibia, I sold to you.”

He, however, declined to disclose the sources of the weapons, saying only he knew the information.

“It’s my business. It’s only I who knows.

“These are strictly arms that I sell country to country,” he said.

Asked whether he had sold weapons to Libya under its former leader, Muammar Gaddafi, the senator maintained that he sold to anyone willing and able to pay.

“I sold to anybody who has money to buy. He [Gaddafi] was a good man. If you have money to buy, when I was selling, I sold to you,” the APC lawmaker said.

Links with foreign intelligence agencies

Mr Kalu also addressed allegations and speculations about his alleged connections with foreign intelligence organisations, including the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Israel’s Mossad.

He denied working for either agency, although he acknowledged knowing people associated with them.

“On many occasions, even President Obasanjo himself called me an international agent. I mean, those things don’t remove anything from my skin because I know myself,” he said.

He added that his previous involvement in arms trading brought him into contact with people in the intelligence community.

“Even if I know people in the CIA, I mean I’m not working for them. I’m not an agent. Because I was trading in arms, I must know the two organisations,” he said.

Relationship with South African leaders

The senator traced some of his international political connections to his relationship with the late South African President, Nelson Mandela, whom he said introduced him to several prominent figures in the country’s political establishment.

He named former President Thabo Mbeki and incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa among the leaders he met through Mr Mandela.

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Mr Kalu also recounted a conversation in which Mr Mandela allegedly explained the historical considerations behind the ANC’s choice of Mr Mbeki over Mr Ramaphosa in its leadership succession.

According to him, Mr Mandela said Mr Mbeki’s father made a greater contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle than Mr Ramaphosa’s father.

He said this consideration influenced the party’s decision to favour Mr Mbeki over Mr Ramaphosa as its running mate to Mr Mandela.

Mr Kalu added that Mr Mbeki later introduced him to another former South African President, Jacob Zuma.

The senator said his relationships with South African political leaders had continued across successive administrations, reflecting the longstanding connections he developed during his association with Mr Mandela, the country’s first post-apartheid president.