Nigerian Archbishop demands answers over weapons deal

A Nigerian Archbishop is calling for the investigation of a multimillion-dollar arms deal which included Nigerian authorities and a Reverend.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama of Jos, the president of the Nigerian bishops' conference, said that those found guilty of money laundering should be punished through the justice system, but he denied that he had accused Rev. Ayodele Joseph Oritsejafor-the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria-of any wrongdoing.

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A jet owned by Oritsejafor was found with over $9 million in cash by South African police, who are also investigating two Nigerians and an Israeli citizen who landed at an airport near Johannesburg with $100 bills in three suitcases in a small jet that had flown out of the Nigerian capital of Abuja.

South African newspapers reported that the three men had documents that said they were going to use the money to purchase weapons from the Nigerian intelligence service.

"All that Archbishop Kaigama said about the [$9 million] saga was that the matter should be investigated in depth to avoid insinuations," said Fr. Chris Anyanwu, communications officer for the bishops' conference.

Anyanwu denied rumors that Kaigama had accused Oritsejafor of the crime.

The bishops' conference has been critical of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the past, "not with the intention to discredit the body but so that things could be corrected fraternally, but there were screaming headlines" that placed the Catholic Church "in a negative light", a statement from the conference said.

"This is happening again," it said.

"As leaders of the Catholic Church we shall continue to be objective in our assessment of the situation in the country and endeavor to edify everyone by our comments and actions and not to destroy. This is because we believe that we are one people and one nation," the statement continued.

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